Juno Awards fever in Saskatchewan

SASKATOON (CP) - Ever since the Juno Awards decided to take the show on the road a few years back, musicians have applauded the idea.

Blue Rodeo singer Jim Cuddy has said holding the music gala in a different city each year is "the best thing the Junos ever did." And Daniel Victor, whose band Neverending White Lights is up for new artist of the year, can't wait for this weekend's party in Saskatoon.

"They don't have a lot going on in their city like Toronto and Vancouver and Montreal," said Victor, who's based in Windsor, Ont. "(They) really appreciate the music because it's one of the only things going on."

While Saskatoon residents may quibble with Victor's rather blunt assessment of the city's attractions, they seem ready to pull out all the stops this weekend.

As Juno festivities kicked off Thursday, a local park featured three different stages representing country, classic rock and modern rock. At another venue, an aboriginal music showcase was planned.

Local musicians will play in restaurants and furniture stores, clothing boutiques and coffee shops on the weekend.

And then of course, there are the official Juno events: the Juno Cup hockey game on Friday night in Prince Albert, Sask., a "fan fare" on Saturday afternoon with artist interviews and prizes, an awards gala on Saturday night and the main televised awards bash on Sunday night.

Among the thousands expected to descend on the city this weekend is Regina resident Adam Ailsby, who says he was lucky to score seats to Sunday's show.

Ailsby and his girlfriend, Michele Ellingsen, 31, were on vacation in Mexico when tickets went on sale in February.

"I'd just sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going," said Ailsby, 28. "I'd given up all hope."

But Ailsby said the day before he left on his trip, a friend offered to go online to try for tickets.

The tickets went quickly - 6,000 sold out in 14 minutes - but on a beach in Mexico a self-proclaimed "big Canadian music fan" got the message he had been waiting for.

"I got an e-mail when I was in Mexico that we did get tickets and I was very, very excited about that," said Ailsby. "I danced around in the surf."

Said Ellingsen: "To find out we actually had tickets and could go ... was pretty exciting when you're a Canadian music fan."

Officials at Tourism Saskatoon estimate the Junos will draw about 3,000 people to the city from outside Saskatchewan and many more within the province. Preliminary figures suggest it will also inject as much as $7 million into the local economy.

It will also showcase Saskatoon for the rest of Canada, said Todd Brandt, president and CEO of Tourism Saskatoon and a co-chair of the Saskatoon Juno host committee.

"It does create a whole new level of exposure for Saskatoon," said Brandt.

"Instant credibility comes with understanding that Saskatoon is capable of hosting much more major events in our community," he said.

Ailsby and Ellingsen, who also saw the Rolling Stones perform in Regina last fall, said they hoped the Juno festivities will be a drawing card for other acts.

"I think these two events are putting Saskatchewan on the map," said Ailsby.

"Hopefully they'll inspire a whole bunch of other acts to come and make shows in Saskatchewan too."

Other cities that have hosted the Junos include St. John's (2002), Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004), Winnipeg (2005) and Halifax (2006).

The show heads to Calgary next year.

Darth Vader, Chewbacca star on new US stamps

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service turned to the characters of "Star Wars" for inspiration on

Wednesday as it unveiled 15 new first-class stamps featuring the whole gang from Chewbacca to Darth Vader.

The stamps were unveiled at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood where the original "Star Wars" movie opened 30 years ago. The stamps will go on sale on May 25, after a contest to choose the most popular of the stamps.

Among the "Star Wars" characters depicted on the stamps are Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett.

The images are from all six "Star Wars" films and David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the U.S. Postal Service, said, "Because of the movies' popularity, we believe these stamps have the popularity of reaching the blockbuster status of the Elvis stamp."

Earlier in the month to publicize the new stamps, about 400 mailboxes around the country were designed to look like R2-D2.

Junos to air earlier on CTV

TORONTO (CP) - After receiving criticism for planning to air the Juno Awards as late as 11 p.m. in some parts of Canada, CTV has decided to broadcast the show earlier.

The network announced Wednesday afternoon that Sunday's show will now air live at 7 p.m. local time in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Originally, the Junos were set to air at 10 p.m. in Ontario and Quebec and as late as 11 p.m. in the Maritimes.

That decision was made to accommodate a two-hour episode of "The Amazing Race."

Critics had lashed out at the plan, suggesting CTV was turning its back on an important Canadian cultural event.

The show is to be hosted by superstar Nelly Furtado in Saskatoon.

"We're here to support and celebrate the music community," said Susanne Boyce, CTV's president of programming. "The artists have spoken and we've listened. This is their showcase and we're proud to be part of it."

'Office' Star to Haunt 'Ghost Town'

Ricky Gervais, the creator and star of the original British version of "The Office," will be taking his comedic talents to a supernatural romantic comedy.

The Brit and Greg Kinnear have signed on to star in the David Koepp-directed DreamWorks comedy "Ghost Town," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story revolves around a dentist who is performing routine surgery when he suddenly dies ... but only temporarily. When he comes back, he discovers that he has the ability to see dead people, all of whom demand that he help them contact the living for various reasons.

There's no indication which roles the actors will take.

The production is looking to begin production in October.

Kinnear, 43, was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in "As Good As It Gets." His recent credits include "The Matador," "Fast Food Nation," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Invincible."

Gervais, 45, has also brought the BBC/HBO series "Extras" to television. His film appearances include "For Your Consideration" and "Night at the Museum." Next up for him is a part in the upcoming fantasy film "Stardust."

Disney could unlock `Song of the South'

ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film "Song of the South" was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture and produced one of the company's most famous songs — the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also provided the inspiration for the Splash Mountain rides at Disney's theme parks.

But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives — never released on video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blacks. The film's 60th anniversary passed last year without a whisper of official rerelease, which is unusual for Disney, but President and CEO Bob Iger recently said the company was reconsidering.

The film's reissue would surely spark debate, but it could also sell big. Nearly 115,000 people have signed an online petition urging Disney to make the movie available, and out-of-print international copies routinely sell online for $50 to $90, some even more than $100.

Iger was answering a shareholder's inquiry about the movie for the second straight year at Disney's annual meeting in New Orleans. This month the Disney chief made a rerelease sound more possible.

"The question of `Song of the South' comes up periodically, in fact it was raised at last year's annual meeting," Iger said. "And since that time, we've decided to take a look at it again because we've had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context."

"Song of the South" was re-shown in theaters in 1956, 1972, 1980 and 1986. Both animated and live-action, it tells the story of a young white boy, Johnny, who goes to live on his grandparents' Georgia plantation when his parents split up. Johnny is charmed by Uncle Remus — a popular black servant — and his fables of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox, which are actual black folk tales. (An honorary Oscar to James Baskett for his portrayal of Uncle Remus.)

Remus' stories include "The Tar Baby," a phrase Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain (news, bio, voting record) and Mitt Romney have been criticized for using to describe difficult situations. In "Song of the South," it was a trick Brer Fox and Brer Bear used to catch the rabbit — dressing a lump of hot tar as a person to ensnare their prey. To some, it's now a derogatory term for blacks, regardless of context.

The movie doesn't reveal whether it takes place before or after the Civil War, and never refers to blacks on the plantation as slaves. It makes clear they work for the family, living down dirt roads in wood shacks while the white characters stay in a mansion. Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem dayses."

"In today's environment, `Song of the South' probably doesn't have a lot of meaning, especially to the younger audiences," said James Pappas, associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of New York at Buffalo. "Older audiences probably would have more of a connection with the stereotypes, which were considered harmless at the time."

Pappas said it's not clear that the movie is intentionally racist, but it inappropriately projects Remus as a happy, laughing storyteller even though he's a plantation worker.

However, Pappas said he thinks the movie should be rereleased because of its historical significance. He said it should be prefaced, and closed, with present-day statements.

"I think it's important that these images are shown today so that especially young people can understand this historical context for some of the blatant stereotyping that's done today," Pappas said.

From a financial standpoint, Iger acknowledged last year that Disney stood to gain from rereleasing "Song." The company's movies are popular with collectors, and Disney has kept sales strong by tightly controlling when they're available.

Christian Willis, a 26-year-old IT administrator in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., started a "Song of the South" fan site in 1999 to showcase memorabilia. He soon expanded it into a clearinghouse for information on the movie that now averages more than 800 hits a day and manages the online petition.

Willis said he doesn't think the movie is racist, just from a different time.

"Stereotypes did exist on the screen," he said. "But if you look at other films of that time period, I think `Song of the South' was really quite tame in that regard. I think Disney did make an effort to show African-Americans in a more positive light."

Though Willis is hopeful, there's still no telling when — or if — the movie could come out (beyond its copyright lapsing decades from now).

In a statement to The Associated Press, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney's distribution arm, said: "`Song of the South' is one of a handful of titles that has not seen a home distribution window. To this point, we have not discounted nor committed to any distribution window concerning this title."

Juno broadcast to air pre-taped

TORONTO (CP) -- When Canadian music fans tune in to CTV on Sunday to see if their favourite artist takes home a Juno Award, many will be doing so after the show has taken place.

In most parts of the country, viewers will see a pre-taped version of Canada's premier music awards gala, to be hosted this year by pop superstar Nelly Furtado in Saskatoon.

The unusual situation is all because of a two-hour episode of the hugely popular reality show "The Amazing Race."

CTV wants to simulcast CBS's broadcast of "The Amazing Race," which airs at different times across the country.

As a result, the Junos will be bumped to 10 p.m. in Ontario and Quebec and as late as 11 p.m. in the Maritimes on the main network.

However, the show will be broadcast live in Atlantic Canada on the CTV-owned channel ASN, airing at 10 p.m. in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and 10:30 p.m. in Newfoundland.

Out west, the show will be broadcast much earlier, hitting airwaves live at 7 p.m. in Alberta and taped at 9 p.m. in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Confused?

CTV admits that the Juno schedule is a head-scratcher, but says that pitting the music awards show against "The Amazing Race" on CBS was not an option.

"Our priority has always been to showcase the Junos to the biggest possible audience and we're confident that this Sunday's game plan ensures that this will happen once again," said CTV spokesman Mike Cosentino.

Two years ago it was the campy soap opera "Desperate Housewives" that caused scheduling headaches for CTV.

It ended up bumping the Junos show by a half hour in all time zones.

CTV spokesman Scott Henderson said the network's varied schedule has meant a constantly changing airtime for the Junos from year to year.

"We try to do the best we can to protect the show and we don't want to compete against ourselves," Henderson said.

Music fans with satellite television can sneak a peak at the awards show a bit earlier through broadcast "time shifting." For instance, viewers in Ontario and Quebec can catch the show at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. by tuning into the Maritime's ASN feed or Alberta's CTV feed, which both air one hour earlier than the local feed.

This year's Junos will feature performances by rockers Three Days Grace, punk band Alexisonfire, hip-hop sensation k-os and veterans the Tragically Hip.

Furtado, rock band Billy Talent and k-os lead the nominees with five nods each.

An encore broadcast will air on CTV on Easter Sunday, April 8, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. across the country.

Comedian Eddie Griffin wrecks $1.5M car

IRWINDALE, Calif. - Eddie Griffin crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million into a concrete barrier while practicing at a racetrack, destroying the car but escaping uninjured.

The 38-year-old actor-comedian was practicing Monday for a charity race to promote his upcoming film, "Redline," when he drove too fast around a curve at the Irwindale Speedway. Video footage shows the red sports car screeching before it ricocheted off the barrier with heavy damage to its front.

"Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that, but the Brother can't drive," said Griffin, referring to his 2002 movie, after the accident.

The film's publicist, Wendy Zocks, said Griffin was "doing OK."

"He walked away completely unscratched, but probably a little shaken," Zocks said.

The Enzo is owned by "Redline" executive producer Daniel Sadek, whose exotic car collection is featured in the movie.

Sadek said the Enzo was damaged beyond repair.

"I'm glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed," Sadek said. "I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought,`There's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world.'"

Only 400 Ferrari Enzos were produced, all between 2002 and 2004.

Griffin's film credits also include "Norbit," "Undercover Brother," "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" and its sequel, and "Date Movie."

New Releases, March 27: Tim McGraw, Good Charlotte, Stevie Nicks

Tim McGraw "Let It Go"

The country-music superstar is set to unveil his first new studio collection since 2004's "Live Like You Were Dying." The first single from the new album, which directly follows 2006's "Reflected: Greatest Hits V. 2," is "Last Dollar (Fly Away)."

McGraw stands to rack up plenty of dollars during the next run of the Soul2Soul tour, which also features his wife, fellow singer Faith Hill. The duo's 2006 outing was the highest-grossing country tour in history.

This edition, dubbed Soul2Soul Tour 2007, launches in early June and is currently scheduled to hit arenas and amphitheaters in 34 cities throughout the US and Canada.

* * *
Good Charlotte "Good Morning Revival"

The pop-punkers unveil their fourth studio set, which follows 2004's platinum-selling "Chronicles of Life and Death." The new album was produced by Don Gilmore, who was at the controls for the band's self-titled debut in 2000.

"Good Morning Revival" features the leadoff single "The River," the music video for which was directed by Marc Webb, who previously worked with the group on the video for "Festival Song."

The band is expected to embark on a world tour to support the album. Details should be announced soon.

* * *
Stevie Nicks "Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks"

The influential rock vocalist is ready to drop a career-spanning greatest-hits package that will include both solo material and tracks from her time with Fleetwood Mac.

"Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks" will feature original recordings as well as concert takes and dance remixes. A DVD component contains 13 Nicks videos (with voice-over commentary by the artist) and an audio interview.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will support the package during a national tour with Chris Isaak. Dates for the outing are expected to be announced shortly.

* * *
Kaiser Chiefs "Yours Truly Angry Mob"

British New Wave-revivalists Kaiser Chiefs deliver the follow-up to their 2005 debut, "Employment." The album's first single, "Ruby," was released to radio in early January.

The Chiefs, who won three Brit Awards last year, will support "Yours Truly Angry Mob" with a North American tour that kicks off April 6 in Philadelphia. The trek will include an April 29 set at the Coachella Festival in Indio, CA.

* * *
Jennifer Lopez "Como Ama una Mujer"

The multimedia queen releases her first-ever Spanish-language album. The first single from the set is "Que Hiciste."

Lopez, of course, has many irons in the fire. Besides being a successful recording artist, she continues to be an in-demand actress in Hollywood. She is married to Latin-music sensation Marc Anthony.

* * *
More new releases:
John Butler Trio, "Grand National" (Atlantic)
Clutch, "From Beale Street to Oblivion" (DRT)
Mark Ford, "Weary and Wired" (Blues Bureau)
Macy Gray, "Big" (will.i.am/Geffen)
Jack Ingram, "This is It" (Big Machine)
Lil' Flip, "Lil' Flip" (Asylum/Warner)
Machine Head, "The Blackening" (Roadrunner)
Mika, "Life in Cartoon Motion" (Casablanca)
Grant-Lee Phillips, "Strangelet" (Zoe/Rounder)
Prodigy (of Mobb Deep) "Return of the Mac" (Koch)
Tha Dogg Pound, "Dogg Chit" (Doggystyle/Koch)
Third Day, "Chronology 1" (Essential)
Various Artists, "British Beat: Best of the 60s" (Shout)
Various Artists, "Disneymania 5" (Disney)
Various Artists, "Now 24" (Capitol)
Mary Weiss, "Dangerous Game" (Norton)
Warren Zevon, "Envoy" (Rhino)
Warren Zevon, "Excitable Boy" (Rhino)
Warren Zevon, "Stand in the Fire" (Rhino)
Young Buck, "Buck the World" (G-Unit/Interscope)

Soundtracks and scores:
"Meet the Robinsons" (Disney)

Bagpipes, Trumpets Enliven New White Stripes CD

Bagpipes and trumpet work from a previously unknown Latin musician are among the new sounds to be heard on the White Stripes' "Icky Thump," due in mid-June via Third Man/Warner Bros. The 13-track set was produced by frontman Jack White and follows 2005's "Get Behind Me Satan," which debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200.

"Icky Thump" runs the gamut from arena rock to blues to a spoken-word prayer to Saint Andrew. "Conquest" is set to a hot tango rhythm, featuring a trumpeter that White discovered playing a Mexican restaurant in Nashville. The song describes a reversal of roles in a relationship, where "the hunted became the huntress / the hunter became the prey / she with all her female guile / led him helpless down the aisle."

Bagpipes and a rollicking Scottish dance structure are applied to "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn," capped by the refrain of "lai-de-lai-de-li-oh." Drummer Meg White's voice can be heard a number of songs, including her banter with Jack on the playful "Rag and Bone" and on the aforementioned spoken-word track "St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)."

There is no piano on "Icky Thump" despite the instrument's significant presence on "Get Behind Me Satan," though several tracks are punctuated with synths and Wurlitzer. Cuts like "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues" and "Catch Hell Blues," as suggested by their titles, are a return to the garage-blues that underscored the band's earlier records.

As previously reported, the album was recorded at Nashville's Blackbird Studio over the span of three weeks. According to the group's Web site, an upcoming tour "will include all 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada, as well as the remaining 16 states of the United States the band have yet to play. A few major markets that have been journeyed to in the past will also be included."

Here is the "Icky Thump" track list:

"Icky Thump"
"You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)"
"300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues"
"Conquest"
"Bone Broke"
"Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn"
"St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)"
"Little Cream Soda"
"Rag and Bone"
"I'm Slowly Turning Into You"
"A Martyr For My Love For You"
"Catch Hell Blues"
"Effect and Cause"

Timbaland gets ready to 'Shock'

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Timbaland is used to causing double takes with his music. Now he's hoping to make a few jaws drop, as well.

The producer, who in the past year helped put Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado atop the pop heap with platinum albums and torrid singles, strives for a new level of creativity April 3 with his genre-busting album Timbaland Presents Shock Value. After more than a decade of flooding the airwaves with hip-hop and R&B hits, the adventurous beatmaker blends rap, rock, R&B, punk and world music in his constant quest to stay ahead of the curve.

For first single Give It to Me, he calls in favors from Timberlake and Furtado, and he also collaborates with 50 Cent, Björk, The Hives, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, She Wants Revenge, Dr. Dre and Sri Lankan rapper MIA.

Timbaland does some rapping himself, but his boundary-busting ambitions will be realized in the soundscapes he masterminds.

"This is just me showing my versatility," says Timbaland (Tim Mosley), 36, aboard his tour bus in back of the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena.

"I like being mainstream. There is nothing wrong with hip-hop, and I do a lot of it on my album. But I want to make global music that reaches everybody.

"It's shocking when you hear all the different types of music. It's pretty intense. When people hear it I want them to go, 'Hmmm. I would have never thought of that.' "

Shock Value is his first album since 2003's Under Construction: Part II, the third album he did with longtime friend and rapper Magoo. While his previous albums have usually been well received critically, they've never been big commercially. His current hot streak and tour with Timberlake, however, have changed things.

"It's different because my stardom level has gone up," says Timbaland, who always has been low-key compared with other celebrated producers. "The way people look at me is totally different, and I have a whole new fan base."

Industry observers think he could be right. Timbaland, who has at times said he was bored with hip-hop, could skirt the sales doldrums besetting the genre by expanding his horizons.

"The climate for music is so bad right now, it will depend on whether pop radio picks up on it and whether he is seen as a pop star," says Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur, co-owner of Allhiphop.com. "Historically, his albums haven't fared well, but he's put himself in a different light with the groundwork he's laid with the work he's done recently. It will be interesting to see if he gets the same attention as Justin or Nelly Furtado."

Vibe associate music editor Sean Fennessey says Timbaland always has been innovative as a hip-hop and R&B producer, but he has probably gone as far as he can creatively go. Working with other kinds of artists is a natural step for Timbaland, who appreciates a broad variety of sounds.

"I think he is genuinely a fan of rock music," he says. "He is an Elton fan, he is a Fall Out Boy fan, and that is why he wants to work with these people. I don't think he thinks of things in genres, either. He just thinks this is hot or not hot.

"What he does is universal music. It's very smart music, and at the same time, it's very danceable."

Furtado says Timbaland knows how to bring out the best in an artist. She says his enthusiasm for the music is infectious.

"When I work with Timbaland in the studio, I feel elevated and electric," she says. "He has an innate musical knowledge and sense of groove that cannot be quantified. Tim has been blessed by God with an incredible sense of rhythm. His production is full of primal energy. This energy really empowers me in the studio."

Timbaland has been on the road on Timberlake's Future Sex/LoveShow World Tour since January, and he has been previewing bits of Shock Value during a 20-minute DJ set in the middle of the pop star's two-hour concert. It's his first real tour, and he says he loves creating beats on stage.

He was not surprised when Timberlake asked him to join the tour.

"We're the best of friends, and we look at it as a team package," says Timbaland, who adds the singer also helped him during the album's production by providing a different perspective on the music.

The 38-stop tour hasn't kept him from his busy production schedule. He has a fully equipped recording studio on the bus — sort of a recording home away from home from his 5,000-square-foot facility in Virginia Beach. (He also has a residence in Miami.)

Chris Brown, 50 Cent and Rihanna are among the stars he has connected with while traveling. He says that whenever he has to, "we just pull over and go to work."

The Norfolk, Va.-born artist/producer has been putting in work since the early '90s, working as DJ Tiny Tim and collaborating with Missy Elliott and rapper Melvin Barcliff (Magoo). They got their first break when Elliott's girl group, Sista, was signed by Jodeci member/producer DeVante Swing to his Swing Mob label. That's where he was nicknamed Timberland, after the popular boots.

He was also a part of a production group, S.B.I. (Surrounded by Idiots), which included another star producer in the making, the Neptunes' Pharrell Williams.

Timbaland worked on several projects at Swing Mob, but by 1995, most of the acts, including Elliott and R&B singer Ginuwine, had moved on.

A year later, Timbaland produced the latter artist's debut album, Ginuwine … The Bachelor, which included the hit Pony. The song's complex drum patterns, stuttering bass lines and quirky sound effects became a Timbaland trademark and spawned numerous imitators.

He teamed with Elliott to write and produce Aaliyah's double platinum One in a Million. That success raised all of their profiles, and he had hits with the likes of Destiny's Child, Nas, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson and SWV. The bulk of his work, however, was concentrated on albums for his closest associates, including his own solo album and one with Magoo.

By 2001, he was still churning out hits. He introduced his new Beat Club imprint with rapper Bubba Sparxxx's Dark Days, Bright Nights and worked with such new acts as Tweet, Ms. Jade and Petey Pablo. Tragedy struck late that year when Aaliyah died in a plane crash. He keeps a portrait of her on his tour bus.

In 2002, he collaborated with star producer Scott Storch on several tracks on Timberlake's solo debut album, Justified. He has maintained a steady presence on the radio since then with hits for Xzibit, Brandy, Jennifer Lopez, Elliott, Tweet, LL Cool J, Pussycat Dolls and The Game.

During this time, his infusion of Asian and Middle Eastern rhythms into productions once again had other urban beatmakers scrambling to catch up.

"I listen to some of everything, and the rhythms come from me studying the world and seeing what's really out there besides us," Timbaland says. "I'm not stuck on one thing. That's just me."

He formed the Mosley Music Group in 2005 after his Beat Club deal folded. Furtado was his first signee and her smash Loose its initial album. Shock Value is next, and he plans to put out albums by alternative rock band OneRepublic and singer/songwriter Keri Hilston (who has written tunes for Mary J. Blige, Chingy, Chris Brown, Omarion, Usher, Letoya Luckett and others) later this year.

Other acts signed to the label include his brother Sebastian (Garland Mosley) and production partner Nate "Danja" Hills.

Currently, he's embroiled in a feud with Storch. Timberlake's Grammy-winning hit Cry Me a River, from Justified, was one of their joint efforts. Storch is credited with playing piano on the track but not as a co-producer, as Storch says he should have been. Timbaland disses Storch without mentioning his name on Give It to Me; Storch fired back at him on a song called Built Like That.

"Scott is not really in my league," Timbaland says. "I don't dislike him. I like him, but as a producer he can't see me. He don't have a fan base like I've got."

Storch has produced hits for Fat Joe, 50 Cent, Beyoncé and many others.

Timbaland says he has several high-profile collaborations in the works, but he's sworn to silence about them. Reports have him working with Duran Duran, Nicole Scherzinger and possibly Madonna. He has broached the idea of recording with troubled pop princess Britney Spears, although nothing is in the works.

"All I've said is that I was tired of people talking about her," he says. "I like Britney as a person. People should leave her alone and let her get her life in order and not write about her every five minutes. That doesn't show that you care about her. It just shows that you build a person up so that you can tear them down."

Nothing seems likely to tear him down soon. He already has done songs this year for the likes of Omarion, Bobby Valentino, Redman and Fabolous, thus satisfying his core fans' need for "dope beats to step to" while constantly finding new ones.

He says isn't sure why his music lately has had such broad appeal. He just shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know what I've tapped into. I'm just enjoying life and having fun."

New NHL deal keeps Hockey Night in Canada on CBC

The CBC and NHL announced a new television deal Monday that will keep Hockey Night in Canada on the air until 2014.

The six-year broadcast deal, which includes national English-language broadcast and multimedia rights to NHL games in Canada, will begin when the current agreement between the CBC and the league expires after the 2007-08 season.

"Can you imagine seven more years of me?" Don Cherry told CBC Sports Online Monday after the CBC announced a new six-year broadcast deal with the NHL.

"I'm very happy. [Hockey Night in Canada ] should be on the CBC: it's been on the CBC [since the 1950s] and this is where it belongs."

The CBC and NHL made the official annoucement during a news conference at the network's Toronto broadcast centre with the Stanley Cup trophy present.

"Some parts of my job never grow old — one of the fun parts in having the honour of presenting this magnificent trophy each year to the captain of the team that wins the Stanley Cup," NHL comissioner Gary Bettman told reporters.

"Another [fun part] is the being able to play a role in carrying on the tradition that is vitally important to Canadians, namely to bring Hockey Night in Canada to over one million hockey fans in Canada each Saturday night."

The CBC will maintain exclusive Canadian coverage of NHL games on Saturday nights, including traditional doubleheaders and more regional telecasts.

The CBC also retains exclusive Canadian coverage of the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL All-Star Game and the annual NHL Awards, and continued coverage of Canadian teams in the playoffs, ensuring national coverage of all Canadian clubs involved in the post-season.

Also, a multimedia package including live and on-demand video streaming of all CBC's hockey broadcasts will be available online at CBC.ca in the near future. That means fans in Canada will be able to watch any Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on CBC.ca, regardless of what game is being aired in their area of the country.

"This is the first day of a very exciting future for us and the NHL," said Richard Stursberg, the executive vice-president of CBC Television.

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is currently in its 54th season on television.

Monday's announcement was a big win for the CBC because the public broadcaster suffered some setbacks in negotiations for key television properties the past few years.

In December 2006, the Canadian Football League announced a new five-year television contract with TSN, a deal that leaves the CBC watching from the sidelines once its current agreement with the league expires after the 2008 season.

CBC also lost the rights to Canadian Curling Association properties, such as the Brier and Tournament of Hearts, to CTV-TSN in 2006.

In 2005, a Bell Globemedia-Rogers Communications consortium won the rights to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. CBC had held Olympic broadcast rights since 1996.

CBC Sports responded to those losses by signing an eight-year agreement with FIFA that includes the rights to the next two World Cups, a four-year deal for alpine skiing and an eight-year contract for the World Curling Tour's Grand Slam events.

Rush announces tour dates

Canadian rock legends Rush have announced dates for their upcoming tour, and it includes six Canadian stops.

The 62-date stint will begin on June 13 in Atlanta, and will make its way to Calgary on July 18, London on September 12, Quebec City on September 14, Montreal on September 15, Toronto on September 19, and Ottawa on September 21.

The tour will wrap up in Helsinki, Finland on October 29.

Tickets for the Canadian portion of the trek will go on sale on April 20 and April 21. There will also be a presale through Rush's official site.

The tour is in support of their new studio album "Snakes & Arrows," which hits stores on May 1.

Here's the list of tour dates:

13-June Atlanta, GA HiFi Buys Amphitheatre

15-June West Palm Beach, FL Sound Advice Amphitheatre

16-June Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre

18-June Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless

20-June Raleigh, NC Walnut Creek Amphitheatre

22-June Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

23-June Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion

25-June Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion

27-June Boston, MA Tweeter Center

29-June Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion

30-June Saratoga Springs, NY SPAC

2-July Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

4-July Buffalo, NY Darien LakeApril 14

6-July Camden, NJ Tweeter Center

8-July Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center

9-July Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena

18-July Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome

20-July Seattle, WA White River Amphitheatre

21-July Portland, OR The Amphitheatre at Clark County

23-July Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl

25-July Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

27-July Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion

28-July Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena

30-July San Diego, CA Coors Amphitheatre

1-Aug. San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre

3-Aug. Concord, CA Sleep Train Pavilion

4-Aug. Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre

6-Aug. Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre

8-Aug. Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre

11-Aug. Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Centre

12-Aug. San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

14-Aug. Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

23-Aug. Kansas City, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

24-Aug. St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

26-Aug. Indianapolis, INVerizon Wireless Music Center

28-Aug. Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre

30-Aug. Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Centre

1-Sept. Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center

2-Sept. Columbus, OH Germain Amphitheater

6-Sept. Milwaukee, WI Marcus AmphitheaterSaturday,

8-Sept. Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

9-Sept. St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center

12-Sept. London, ON John Labatt Centre

14-Sept. Quebec City, PQ Colisee de Quebec

15-Sept. Montreal, PQ Bell Centre

19-Sept. Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

21-Sept. Ottawa, ON ScotiaBank Place

3-Oct. Glasgow, Scotland SECC

5-Oct. Newcastle, England Metro Radio Arena

6-Oct. Sheffield, England Hallam FM Arena

9-Oct. London, England Wembley Arena

10-Oct. London, England Wembley Arena

11-Oct. Birmingham, England NEC Arena

14-Oct. Manchester, England MEN Arena

16-Oct. Rotterdam, Netherlands Ahoy

17-Oct. Rotterdam, Netherlands Ahoy

19-Oct. Oberhausen, Germany Arena

21-Oct. Mannheim, Germany SAP Arena

23-Oct. Milan, Italy Forum Arena

26-Oct. Oslo, Norway Spektrum Monday,

27-Oct. Stockholm, Sweden Globe Arena

29-Oct. Helsinki, Finland Hartwell Arena

Turtles top box office with $25 million

LOS ANGELES - The ninja turtles are back, and they're winning. The Warner Bros. adventure "TMNT," a computer-animated update of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comics, cartoons and 1990s live-action movies, debuted as the top weekend flick with $25.45 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Warner also had the second-place movie with "300," which had been No. 1 the previous two weekends. The battle epic set in ancient Greece took in $20.5 million, lifting its total to $162.4 million.

Paramount's "Shooter," starring Mark Wahlberg as an ex-Marine sniper framed for a presidential assassination, led the runners-up among a rush of new movies, opening at No. 3 with $14.5 million.

New Line's family fantasy "The Last Mimzy" premiered in fifth place with $10.2 million. The movie centers on a brother and sister who discover a mysterious box of toys and are endowed with superhuman powers to help them preserve humanity's future.

Fox Atomic's horror sequel "The Hills Have Eyes 2," about National Guard troops who stumble on a clan of mutant cannibals, opened at No. 7 with $10 million.

Adam Sandler had a soft debut for his latest dramatic detour, the post-Sept. 11 drama "Reign Over Me," which came in at No. 8 with $8 million. The Sony release features Sandler as a lost soul whose family died in the Sept. 11 attacks, with Don Cheadle co-starring as an old friend helping him to reconnect with the world.

Lionsgate's sports tale "Pride," starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac in the story of a coach who starts a swim team for impoverished black youths in the 1970s, opened with $4 million to come in at No. 9.

Hollywood continued a recent business upswing, with the top 12 movies taking in $125.7 million. That's up 28 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Inside Man" debuted at No. 1 with $29 million.

The upward trend likely will end next weekend. New movies that include Will Ferrell's comedy "Blades of Glory" and the animated feature "Meet the Robinsons" will have a hard time matching up to "Ice Age: The Meltdown," which opened with $68 million over the first weekend in April last year.

"We're on a roll and on an up streak right now, but it's going to be a real tough comparison for this weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"TMNT" follows the escapades of four hip turtles who mutate into man-sized reptiles and use their martial-arts mastery to fight bad guys.

"It's sequel time, dudes," said Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., which is distributing "TMNT" overseas. "We knew from the inception of this project that that the `TMNT' characters would continue to resonate with audiences across the world."

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "TMNT," $25.45 million.
2. "300," $20.5 million.
3. "Shooter," $14.5 million.
4. "Wild Hogs," $14.4 million.
5. "The Last Mimzy," $10.2 million.
6. "Premonition," $10.1 million.
7. "The Hills Have Eyes 2," $10 million.
8. "Reign Over Me," $8 million.
9. "Pride," $4 million.
10. "Dead Silence," $3.5 million.

The Couch Potato Report - March 24th, 2007

This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a Genie nominee, an Oscar nominee and the fifth sequel to the Best Picture of 1976.

First up this week is a film you might not have heard of, but a few weeks ago it stood as one of the best Canadian films of last year at The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Genie Awards.

The film is called CHEECH.

It is a film from Quebec about six people living through the worst day of their lives.

The less than respectable people in the film - the lead character runs an escort service - keep making bad decisions as their day goes on, and each one seems to make things worse.

One of the female escorts would like to join a new agency, so as a sign of good faith, she has told them the best way to rob her current employer.

Meanwhile, her current boss is trying to increase his business, and he has an assistant who is in love with one of the women who works with them.

Nothing seems to go right for these people...nothing...and that is a credit to CHEECH as just when you think you might know what is going to happen, it takes a twist or turn and you are back at square one, guessing what is going to happen again.

CHEECH is not an unfamiliar film, in fact most of it will seem very familiar, especially if you saw last year's Academy Award winning film CRASH...but what is unique about it, is that fact that it takes place in Quebec, and the sights and sounds are all pure Canadian!

Something else that is unique is the fact that the main character stops whatever he is doing several times during the film for a daily affirmation, in hopes of getting out of his depression.

And when he stops, the people around him stop, and the action in the film stops.

CHEECH is not a perfect film, and it's subject matter, language and violence prevent me from recommending it to everyone, but if you are interested in seeing how the lives of six less than perfect people collide, then perhaps you should look for it.

It isn't superb, or all that unfamiliar, but CHEECH does have it's unique moments.

Up next this week is the Academy Award nominated film BLOOD DIAMOND.

Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated in the Best Actor category and Djimon Hounsou from the movies GLADIATOR and IN AMERICA was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for their superb work in this thought provoking film about the diamond trade in Africa.

In BLOOD DIAMOND DiCaprio plays an ex Mercenary and Hounsou a fisherman.

Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives.

Jennifer Connelly from A BEAUTIFUL MIND also stars in the film as a journalist who is looking to tell the true story of Africa's diamond trade.

BLOOD DIAMOND features great acting and an engaging story and group of actors, and it also depicts the savagry and barbarism that people in Africa will go through to get their hands on diamonds.

At times it is a tough film to sit through, but at all times it is honest.

If you are thinking of buying a diamond for someone you love, I sugest that you see this film first AND you should also watch the documentary on the DVD called BLOOD ON THE STONE.

In will open your eyes, I guarantee it!

Our final film this week is the very satisfying ROCKY BALBOA.

At the Academy Awards in 1976 the original ROCKY, about an underdog boxer from Philadelphia who was given a chance to succeed, was named best picture.

While it's sequels 2 through 4 didn't win Oscars, they did win the hearts of movie goers as The Italian Stallion became a worldwide sensation...on screen and off.

After ROCKY 5 came out and flopped in 1990 it looked like we would never get another one...but now ROCKY BALBOA is available and in this sixth and reportedly final chapter Rocky comes out of retirement to step into the ring for the last time.

I am am fan of the ROCKY films. I grew up with them, I watch them today, and I love them. But when I heard that Stallone was making another one I was very, very skeptical.

But the film is very satisfying, both to me as a fan o fthe series and characters, to me as a fan of films, and to me, as someone who is getting older, and isn't always all that happy about that fact.

ROCKY BALBOA is a very entertaining film, even if you have never seen any of the others.

ROCKY BALBOA, and all of the ROCKY films for that matter, are now available on DVD. So is the entertaining and informative BLOOD DIAMOND and the not that unfamiliar, but unique in it's own right film CHEECH.

Coming up in two weeks on the next Couch Potato Report

We'll look back at the life and career of the late great film director Robert Altman with his eight film box set THE ROBERT ALTMAN BOX; a naive barber is the main character in the new-to-DVD classic Canadian film HIGHWAY 61; the great Ashley Judd is a woman searching for love in COME EARLY MORNING; and the animated film HAPPY FEET tap dances it's way onto DVD.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in fourteen days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

Gibson, professor trade barbs over film

LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson exchanged angry words with a university professor who challenged the accuracy of his film "Apocalypto" at an on-campus screening. Gibson was answering questions from the crowd at California State University, Northridge, Thursday night when Alicia Estrada, an assistant professor of Central American studies, accused the actor-director of misrepresenting the Mayan culture in the movie. Gibson directed an expletive at the woman, who was removed from the crowd.

"In no way was my question aggressive in the way that he responded to it," Estrada said. "These are questions that my peers, my colleagues, ask me every time I make a presentation. These are questions I pose to my students in the classroom."

Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, characterized the professor as "a heckler."

"The woman ... was rude and disruptive inasmuch as the event organizers had to escort her out," Nierob said.

Lauren Robeson, editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, the Daily Sundial, said Gibson denounced Estrada as a troublemaker.

"It was a brief disruption to an otherwise interesting, stimulating event from our students' perspectives," said university spokesman John Chandler. "The students were very appreciative of Mr. Gibson being there. He spent a lot of time answering questioernational headlines. The R-rated epic about the decline of Mayan civilization shows Mayan rulers slitting throats and beheading and ripping the beating hearts from the chests of their enemies.

Human sacrifice among the Mayans has been well-documented in recent years and is accepted as fact by most anthropologists, knocking down a previous theory that the culture did not take part in such bloody rituals.

However, there are some scholars and Indian activists who still believe the human sacrifice accounts are false or overblown, and an attempt by racist scientists to paint the culture as violent.

"This isn't the Mayan culture," Juan Tiney, leader of the National Indian and Farmer Committee, Guatemala's biggest Mayan organization, told the AP. "Although it might be part of it, there was also culture, economics, astronomical wealth and language. ... It discredits a people to present them in this manner."

Gibson "did his homework and consulted with world authorities on this matter," Nierob said.

"Apocalypto" has grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and it earned three Academy Award nominations.

"Titanic" stars DiCaprio, Winslet reuniting

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who played ill-fated lovers in the 1997 smash hit "Titanic," are reuniting for a drama about postwar disillusionment, the DreamWorks movie studio said on Friday.

"Revolutionary Road" will be directed by Winslet's husband, British filmmaker Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for directing 1999's dysfunctional family drama "American Beauty."

The DreamWorks project, based on the 1961 novel by Richard Yates, revolves around a suburban couple caught between their hopes for a life of art, culture and sophistication and the everyday drudgery of boring jobs and domesticity.

"Revolutionary Road" is considered a master work of modern American literature, and was named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Time magazine.

In "Titanic," DiCaprio's working-class character fell in love with a wealthy socialite played by Winslet aboard the doomed ocean liner that sank in the icy North Atlantic in 1912.

It became the highest-grossing movie of all time, raking in more than $1.8 billion in global ticket sales, and made DiCaprio and Winslet household names.

Both DiCaprio and Winslet were nominated for Oscars this year, for thriller "Blood Diamond" and drama "Little Children," respectively. DiCaprio has earned three Oscar nominations and Winslet five.

Discord in Boston after Delp suicide

CONCORD, N.H. - The band Boston spoke to people's souls during the 1970s with smash hits like "More Than a Feeling" and "Peace of Mind." But two weeks after lead singer Brad Delp's suicide at his New Hampshire home, bad feelings abound.

Current members of the band, including the chief songwriter and founder, Tom Scholz, were not informed about or invited to Delp's funeral, which was attended by early band members who opposed Scholz in a 1980s legal battle.

Last week, Delp's ex-wife Micki was quoted on a radio station saying Delp was distressed about the conflicts in his professional life and became despondent after a longtime friend, Fran Cosmo, was cut from Boston's summer concert lineup. The story spread online, where fans trying to figure out the reason for Delp's suicide took up the cudgels.

Scholz, who called Delp his "closest friend and collaborator in music for over 35 years," said he was crushed by Delp's suicide and his exclusion from the funeral. Now he feels he is being unfairly blamed for Delp's death.

"It went from devastating on the initial phone call to an absolute nightmare," Scholz told The Associated Press on Friday in a tearful telephone interview, his first since Delp's death on March 9. (An interview conducted by e-mail was published earlier in Rolling Stone.)

"We had been told it would only be his immediate family (at the funeral), and of course it wasn't," he said.

A lawyer for Scholz sent a letter to Micki Delp on Friday demanding a retraction. She did not immediately respond Friday to an e-mail message from The Associated Press via the publicist who has handled statements for the family.

Boston has canceled its summer engagements, and Scholz said he still hopes the rift can be mended and the band can be part of a public memorial service that Delp's children and fiancee, Pamela Sullivan, said last week was in the works.

Tensions between Scholz and some of the early band members date from the early 1980s, when CBS Inc. sued the band over delays in recording new albums. The company's Epic Records label recorded the band's first two releases: "Boston," in 1976, and "Don't Look Back," in 1978.

Scholz countersued for the rights to the band's name and music. Three members of the original band — Barry Goudreau, Sid Hashian and Fran Sheehan — testified for the record company, which lost. Goudreau is Micki Delp's brother-in-law, and she reportedly remains close to the ousted band members.

Delp, the only band member besides Scholz whose name was on the CBS recording contract, remained friends with everyone, touring and recording with Scholz and the others over the decades. He also started a Beatles tribute band, Beatle Juice.

Scholz wrote, engineered, and laid down nearly all the instrumental tracks on the first album, but he said Delp helped him refine the songs and brought his music to life.

"It went from a guitar lick that didn't mean a thing to a real song as soon as he opened his mouth. That was always the case," Scholz said. "We had a very, very close working relationship. I swear it was like we were hooked up by a cable. We didn't even have to talk most of the time."

Scholz and Delp were both vegetarians and pacifists, both dedicated their money and talents to causes they believed in, and both proposed to their longtime girlfriends on Christmas Day 2006 by putting rings in their stockings — only learning about the coincidence in a conversation afterward.

The band's first album was wildly successful, and remains one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, according to Billboard, selling more than 16 million copies. Boston's early music also remains a staple on classic rock stations, especially in New England.

96.5 FM ("The Mill") in Manchester plans a two-hour tribute to Boston on Sunday featuring excerpts from the station's interviews with Delp over the years. Program Director J.C. Haze said he remembers hearing the first album.

"Tom and Brad, they made such a unique sound it just took the world by storm," Haze said. "Nothing ever sounded like it, and nothing ever did since."

'Galactica's' Fourth Season Battles Longer

Next season, fans can expect more Cylon action.

The Sci Fi Channel has increased its initial 13-episode order of the fourth season of "Battlestar Galactica" to 22 episodes.

The Peabody Award-winning series will also include a special two-hour extended event that will air during the late fall or early winter 2007 and will be released on DVD later.

The redefined space opera is currently approaching its third season finale Sunday, March 25 in which Baltar is on trial and the identity of some of the humanoid Cylons may be revealed.

The fourth season will begin production in May, shooting for an early 2008 premiere.

Music publishers sue XM over copyrighted songs use

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) filed a lawsuit against XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc on Thursday for providing radios that allegedly let users reproduce and distribute copyrighted music without paying appropriate royalties.

The publishers said the suit alleges that XM engages in massive copyright infringement with devices that provide its service known as "XM + MP3," which lets listeners store songs they hear on XM's service and arrange them into playlists.

In a statement, the publishers' group said the suit, filed in New York federal court following months of failed negotiations, includes such well-known songs as "Let it Be," "My Heart Will Go On" and "Me and Bobby McGee."

The complaint seeks a maximum of $150,000 in statutory damages for each work infringed by XM, and lists over 175 songs as a "small fraction" of those being illegally distributed through the "XM + MP3" service.

In a statement, XM said the lawsuit was a negotiating tactic to gain an advantage in ongoing business discussions.

An XM spokesman said it pays royalties to writers and composers who are also compensated by its device manufacturers and that it was confident it would prevail and the lawsuit was without merit.

Last year, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a similar copyright infringement lawsuit against XM on behalf of its record label members.

In January, XM was dealt a setback in that copyright infringement case when its motion to dismiss that lawsuit was denied by a federal court.

The case, originally filed last May in New York federal court, alleged that XM's portable "Inno" device -- which can store music -- infringes on copyrights and transforms a passive radio experience into the equivalent of a digital download service such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

XM argued that the 1992 Home Recording Audio Act protected it from being sued, saying that the law shields equipment makers and consumers who make digital music recordings for private use.

Cruise drafted for Singer thriller

When Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie brought their new thriller to United Artists, they got more than a producer. They got a star.

UA co-head Tom Cruise, who snagged the rights to the "Usual Suspects" reunion, will also star in the currently untitled World War II drama. This will be the second straight United Artists pick-up that Cruise has also opted to star in, after taking a supporting turn in Robert Redford's "Lions for Lambs."

Details on the project were initially vague, but somebody fed the industry trades the information that McQuarrie's script is based the real events surrounding a group of German generals plotting to assassinate Adolph Hitler. While the trades say that Cruise agreed on Tuesday to take a lead role, no role is specified, though the "Born on the Fourth of July" star probably won't be playing Hitler.

Singer hopes to slot in the relatively inexpensive ensemble thriller before Warner Brothers' "Superman Returns" sequel begins to occupy all of his time.

"Lions for Lambs," the first United Artists film since Cruise and Paula Wagner were given creative control of the company, will open on Nov. 9. Cruise was last seen on the big screen in "Mission: Impossible III."

McCartney To Anchor New Starbucks Label

After weeks of speculation, Paul McCartney is now officially the first artist signed to Hear Music, a new joint label formed by Starbucks and the Concord Music Group. The as-yet-untitled album is due in early June; its release on Hear Music marks the end of McCartney's decades-long association with Capitol.

"This is something I’ve been working on for a little while now," McCartney said of the David Kahne-produced album during a Webcast today (March 21). "A lot of it’s very personal to me.Tthe songs are in some ways a little bit retrospective. Some of them are of now, some of them hark back to the past, but all of them are songs I’m very proud of."

As previously reported, Starbucks will primarily handle A&R for the collaborative initiative, while Concord will head up marketing, promotion and distribution of the label's product outside the coffee shops. The Hear Music name has been used since 1999 for compilations and co-releases at Starbucks; it will now apply exclusively to this partnership.

Starbucks' profile as a music retail outlet has jumped significantly in the past few years, especially following the success of Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company," a joint production with Concord that scored eight Grammy awards. The company has also struck deals to release exclusive albums by Bob Dylan and Alanis Morissette.

McCartney's last studio album was 2005's critical favorite "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard," which has sold 533,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Letterman regular 'Bud' Melman dies

NEW YORK - Calvert DeForest, the white-haired, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows, has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, Letterman's "Late Show" announced Wednesday.

He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: dueting with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe," doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, handing out hot towels to arrivals at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself — a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."

The gnomish DeForest was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center when show producers, who had seen him in a New York University student's film, came calling.

He was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein."

"It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he once said of his first Letterman appearance.

DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1993, though DeForest had to use his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property."

Cue cards were often DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.

DeForest often drew laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.

His last appearance on "Late Show," celebrating his 81st birthday, came in 2002.

DeForest also appeared in an assortment of other television shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.

At his request, there will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors.

'Huckabees' director's spat on Net

HOLLYWOOD -- A couple of explosive video clips have been making the e-mail rounds all over town this week, featuring a highly agitated Lily Tomlin and her verbally abusive I Heart Huckabees director David O. Russell.

The recordings, made by a technician who thoughtfully allowed the tape to continue rolling, originally had been swapped between talent agencies back when the poorly-received movie came out in 2004, but have mysteriously reappeared on YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

They most definitely are not for sensitive ears.

One shows Tomlin going on an expletive-filled tirade against her off-camera director while sitting at a desk, next to a very uncomfortable-looking Dustin Hoffman.

In the other clip it's Russell's turn -- hurling the nasty c-word in Tomlin's direction before trashing props and storming off the set.

Given the film's existential themes, their behaviour certainly doesn't seem very Zen-like, although it isn't the first time the mercurial Russell has had at it with one of his cast members.

Back during the filming of Three Kings, the nominally easy-going George Clooney was so upset by Russell's yelling and screaming at crew members, that at one point the two actually got into a fistfight. The experience left Clooney vowing never to work with the director again.

Russell, meanwhile, hasn't made another movie since Huckabees, but is currently developing a new comedy project tentatively called The H-Man Cometh, which has Vince Vaughn attached as a glib talk radio jock.

Wonder if Vaughn's checked out YouTube lately?

Is It A Rumour Over Nothing?

People have been asking "Is Seinfeld coming in May?"

Well, it seems the anwser is "No, its not coming in May." Thanks to one of our friendly retailers, we have a rumored date of June 5.

Of course this won't be official until it's announced by Sony.

Until then, here is a list of the season 8 episodes:

The Foundation
The Soul Mate
The Bizarro Jerry
The Little Kicks
The Package
The Fatigues
The Checks
The Chicken Roaster
The Abstinence
The Andrea Doria
The Little Jerry
The Money
The Comeback
The Van Buren Boys
The Susie
The Pothole
The English Patient
The Nap
The Yada Yada
The Millennium
The Muffin Tops
The Summer of George

Oshawa serves up silliness for faux American right-wing pundit Stephen Colbert

OSHAWA, Ont. (CP) - Hordes of Stephen Colbert fans turned out Tuesday to fete the American comic whose buffoonish right-wing pundit delights fans on both sides of the border with his idiotic commentary on "The Colbert Report."

As many as 3,000 people packed the General Motors Centre in this normally quiet working-class city on Tuesday night. They were there to take part in "Stephen Colbert Day," the event that came about when Oshawa's mayor lost a bet on an OHL game with Colbert, the eyebrow-arching faux commentator whose inspiration is Fox News's pugnacious Bill O'Reilly.

"This is a city I have admired ever since I learned of its existence recently," Colbert, who didn't attend the festivities, told the crowd via a taped message played on the arena's big screen.

He ordered the throng to turn "Stephen Colbert Day" into a wild party, naming several local pubs where the celebrations could continue into the wee hours.

"I want this to be the biggest raver in Oshawa since last year's peony festival," he said to roars of laughter before digging into a cake festooned with the words Happy Stephen Colbert Day.

Mayor John Gray was also forced to eat cake - his own birthday cake, decorated with a photo of Colbert in all his thumbs'-up, arched-eyebrow glory.

"I feel very lucky to be born on Colbert Day," Gray told the crowd on Tuesday night. "Mr. Colbert, this is the way to lose a bet."

The seed for "Stephen Colbert Day" was planted when about two million Colbert fans inundated an online contest a few months ago to name the mascot of the Saginaw Spirit, a Michigan OHL team. Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle was born as a tribute to the comedian.

Colbert - who encouraged fans of his Comedy Central/Comedy Network show to cast the ballots - threw his support behind the squad and began trash-talking its OHL rivals, especially the Generals.

After a public volley of taunts and counter-taunts, Gray issued a challenge to Colbert on the eve of a recent showdown between the two teams: if the Generals won, Colbert would have to wear a Generals jersey for an entire show. If the Spirit won, Gray had to declare Colbert's birthday "Stephen Colbert Day" in Oshawa.

Colbert accepted the challenge but had a more humiliating suggestion: he wanted "Stephen Colbert Day" to be declared not on his own birthday, but on Gray's - March 20.

In the absence of Colbert, hockey icon Don Cherry provided the night's biggest star power. Dressed in a brilliant red crushed-velvet jacket, he was treated with reverence as he waited in the wings before taking to the stage to honour former Boston Bruin Bobby Orr, whose birthday was also on Tuesday. The legendary defenceman once played for the Oshawa Generals.

"Sir Cherry!" one teenaged girl shouted out in excitement as the larger-than-life Hockey Night in Canada commentator walked towards the stage.

Of Colbert, Cherry had this to say: "He's the guy who started all this and then didn't even have the guts to show up." He later referred to Colbert as a "leftie pinko," adding that if the comedian was a hockey player, he'd wear a visor.

It was an uncharacteristically silly event for the city of Oshawa, a community on Lake Ontario that's long lived in the cultural shadow of nearby Toronto. Even Gray acknowledged "Stephen Colbert Day" was something of a rarity for his city.

"Oshawa isn't exactly known for liveliness," said Gray. "We have that old, grey image, and we're trying to shake it off. We've been looking for a way to expose the world to all the great things about Oshawa, and Stephen Colbert comes along and helps us."

Until Tuesday's event, Oshawa was best known to the rest of Canada as the home base for General Motors Canada and for the Generals, its dynamic OHL club. The squad has a serious NHL star in the making in John Tavares, who recently broke Wayne Gretzky's record for the most goals scored in the OHL by a 16-year-old player.

Five finalists in the Stephen Colbert lookalike contest were on hand at the General Motors Centre, all of them certain they had the swagger and the arched brow necessary to win the prize of a trip to New York City for a taping of "The Colbert Report."

They ranged in age from Jacob Kanter, 16, of Toronto to John Tate, 58, of Manitoba, and included at least one Colbert - Jason Colbert from Ancaster, Ont., who suggested he might be distantly related to his comedic idol.

Maurice Collard of Saskatoon, Sask, won the contest, even though young Kanter's Colbert imitation and belligerent commentary, including a swipe at Hillary Clinton, got the biggest laughs.

Tate, a retired schoolteacher from Treherne, Man., possessed the most striking physical resemblance to Colbert. He recounted how a former student called him up and told him he wanted to take pictures of him because of the uncanny likeness.

"I assumed it was just some project he was doing for school. He came over the next morning and of course it wasn't pictures, it was video, and next thing I know I'm on YouTube - he's going to pay," Tate said.

The night's festivities also included a showdown between the mascots from the Michigan and Oshawa OHL teams and lots of free cake and Dr. Pepper, Colbert's favourite soft drink.

Woody's the man for Johansson?

Forget Justin Timberlake and Josh Hartnett.

The love of Scarlett Johansson's life is Woody Allen.

"I'd sew the hems of his pants if he asked me to," the actress, 22, coos in the April issue of Vogue, on newstands Tuesday.

And the adoration is mutual.

She's "criminally sexy," Allen, 71, said in an e-mail sent to Vogue about his Match Point muse. "She is unlike anyone who has come before her, and while she is a much stronger actress in every way, there is a tiny bit of Marilyn Monroe in her zaftig humidity."

Though their heat is strictly professional, Johansson tells Vogue she works hard to keep her romantic life private. But she's quick to declare as "not true" reports last month that she and Timberlake were an item.

"We had fun together, but it's not like the first time I've ever hung out with him," she says. "I think this happens because we're both single and in the spotlight, and obviously Justin's a very high-profile person."

But Vogue reports Johansson's sunny disposition turned dark when asked about Hartnett, her co-star in The Black Dahlia.

"I'd rather not comment on my personal life in that way," the actress says.

Johansson's next film, The Nanny Diaries, opens April 20.

The Couch Potato Report - March 20th, 2007

This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on two great TV series, a useless movie, with a great making of, and James Bond.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: One of the greatest things about DVDs is the fact that we can now sit back on our couches and watch old TV shows and series in their entirety, whether it is St. Patrick's day or not.

Neither video cassettes or laserdiscs offered us that option as easily as DVD does, and I for one love seeing shows I love again and again!

One show that I loved when it aired in the late 1990s - on CBC no less - was the unique series TWITCH CITY, and it now available on DVD for my viewing pleasure once again!!

The very funny TWITCH CITY takes place in the Toronto neighbourhood of Kensington Market.

Don McKellar from THE RED VIOLIN and PRAIRIE GIANT stars in the show as Curtis, a couch potato who never leaves his apartment and is constantly watching television.

For some reason, I related to the character.

In the first episode Curtis' roomate Nathan is sent to prison for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food.

In a nod to that other great television series filmed in the area, the homeless man was played by Al Waxman, who had been the star of the 1970s sitcom KING OF KENSINGTON.

Prior to his incarceration Nathan's girlfriend Hope was about to move in with him, but now that he is in prison, Curtis rents out his room.

However, he is still interested in having Hope move in.

Throughout the series, Curtis and Hope get to know each other better, they continually try to find new roomates, and they watch The Rex Reilly Show, a Jerry Springer-esque show that always has a unique topic to hook viewers with.

TWITCH CITY didn't have mainstream success when season one aired in 1998 or when it came back in 2000, and to thsi day it is still thought of as the second best series ever made about Kensington, but those of us who watched it, enjoyed it, and we can now own it on DVD!

And who knows, maybe some day KING OF KENSINGTON will come out on DVD as well so we can watch more TV.

Most North American viewers watch more than forty hours per week, I certainly do, and the time I spent watching TWITCH CITY was time well spent.

I would also make that claim regarding DOCTOR WHO. I have spent my whole life watching this series, and I always enjoy it!!

DOCTOR WHO is the long-running BBC science fiction show about the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as "the Doctor", who explores time and space with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs.

DOCTOR WHO originally ran from 1963 to 1989. Then, a television movie was made in 1996, and the programme was successfully relaunched in 2005 with the great Christopher Eccelston starring as the title character.

Like all Time Lords, the Doctor has the ability to "regenerate" his body when near death, allowing for the convenient recasting of the lead actor, so when Eccelston left the show after one season, he was replaced by David Tennant.

It is Tennant's shows that are now available on DVD in DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES and they are a great addition to the legacy of DOCTOR WHO.

The series brings back classic villains, introduces interesting new ones, and if you are a long time fan of the show, there is even the return of an old friend.

Even if you are not a long time fan of the show, the episode where one of the Doctor's former traveling companions will still pack an emotional whallop. The show is that well written and acted.

But it is also fun! Fun to watch, and in SERIES TWO the actors make it look like it was fun to film as well.

If you missed any of the DOCTOR WHO episodes when they aired Monday nights on CBC recently, you can catch them again as they air on Saturdays from 12:30 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.

And the incredible DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES is also now on DVD.

Okay, I have two more releases to discuss with you this week, and I will do that briefly.

The reason I am being brief about the film SHORTBUS starring CBC radio's own Sook-Yin Lee is because the film is useless!

Completely and utterly useless.

In this film, people go to the exclusive club Shortbus to work out problems in their sexual relationships.

There are straight people, gay people, and some who are just lonely and alone.

All of them are trying to work out their problems.

And the actors in SHORTBUS are not pretending or acting, this is a film full of very graphic situations.

John Cameron Mitchell, the writer and director of the film, is on record saying that SHORTBUS is that it is an uncensored look at relationships.

My opinion is that he knew how uninteresting a film he was making, so he decided to put as much nudity in it as possible in order to get people talking about the movie.

But in the end, SHORTBUS is just a film full of desperate people, in desperate situations and none of it all that interesting, entertaining, or even titallating.

However...the DVD includes a making of featurette that is interesting. It seems as if the filmmakers actually took some time to plan out, cast, create and film their movie, and while I have nothing good to say about their work, I did find the process that they went through quite engaging.

So let me surmise...as a film SHORTBUS is completely and utterly useless, but the story of how it got made is actually very interesting.

Now, lets get away from the useless side of cinema and move toward something more usefull.

Yes, the latest James Bond film is very usefull, and entertaining and even if you have never seen a Bond film before, you can still enjoy CASINO ROYALE.

There are great action sequences, an interesting story, and if you have watched these films over the years, or read the books, there is even a nod or two to the series' history.

Plus, CASINO ROYALE has another thing going for it! Someone named Daniel is now Bond...James Bond.

Daniel Craig is a superb James Bond and CASINO ROYALE is now available on DVD, alongside the utterly useless SHORTBUS, the always entertaining DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES and the 1990s CBC series TWITCH CITY.

Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report

CHEECH is a Genie nominated film from Quebec about six people living through the worst day of their lives.

Also next week, Sylvester Stallone returns is the very satisfying ROCKY BALBOA; Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly star in the Oscar nominated BLOOD DIAMOND; and the great Ashley Judd is a woman searching for love in COME EARLY MORNING.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

New Releases, March 20: Modest Mouse, Joss Stone, Elliott Yamin

Modest Mouse "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank"

After several delays, this Pacific Northwest indie-rock act finally returns with its fifth studio album. The first single from the record is "Dashboard."

"We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" is the band's first release to feature former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as a permanent member. Last year, Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock told Rolling Stone that Marr planned only to be a studio player for the forthcoming Modest Mouse album, but the guitarist found he was a perfect fit for the group.

* * *
Joss Stone "Introducing Joss Stone"

Young soul sensation Joss Stone is set to follow her highly successful debut album, "Mind Body and Soul." Prior to that 2005 effort, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter had released an EP, 2003's "The Soul Sessions," when she was just 16 years old.

"Introducing Joss Stone" features production work by Raphael Saadiq (D'Angelo, The Roots). The British vocalist will support the album with a North American tour that launches in late April and includes a May 6 date at New Orleans' Jazz and Heritage Festival.

* * *
Elliott Yamin "Elliott Yamin"

Elliott Yamin is the latest star from last season's "American Idol" series to release a debut record. He follows finalists Chris Daughtry, Katharine McPhee and winner Taylor Hicks. The first single from Yamin's self-titled record is "Movin' On."

* * *
Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price "Last of the Breed"

Few titles are as appropriate as this one. "Last of the Breed" is a collaboration between three of the finest country singers of all time--Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price--inarguably the greatest country super-group since the Highway Men (which featured Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson).

* * *
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists "Living With the Living"

The edgy rock trio--featuring singer/songwriter/guitarist Ted Leo, bassist Dave Lerner and drummer Chris Wilson--is set to drop its fifth record. The band will support "Living With the Living" with a North American tour that kicks off March 28 in Philadelphia.

* * *
More new releases:
Andrew Bird, "Armchair Apocrypha" (Fat Possum)
Miguel Bose, "Papito" (Warner Bros.)
C-Murder, "Screamin' for Vengence" (Priority/Capitol)
Roger Clyne and Peacemakers, "No More Beautiful World" (Emmajava)
Marques Houston, "Veteran" (Universal)
J-Dilla, "Ruff Draft" (Stones Throw)
Joseph Israel, "Gone are the Days" (New Door/UME)
LCD Soundsystem, "Sound of Silver" (Capitol)
Low, "Drums and Guns" (Sub Pop)
Jesse Malin, "Glitter in the Gutter" (Adeline)
Stephen Marley, "Mind Control" (Republic)
Miguel Migs, "Those Things" (Om)
Otep, "Ascension" (Capitol)
Panda Bear, "Person Pitch" (Paw Tracks)
Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby, "Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby" (Sony)
Tracey Thorn, "Out of the Woods" (Astralwerks)

Soundtracks and scores:
"Amazing Grace" (Spring House)

Traveling Wilburys Reborn With Rhino

After being out of print for more than a decade, the two studio albums from all-star band the Traveling Wilburys will return to the marketplace in a variety of formats June 12 via Wilbury Records/Rhino, Billboard.com has learned.

"Traveling Wilburys Volume 1" and "Traveling Wilburys Volume 3" will be available together in one package with bonus tracks and a DVD of rare footage, as a deluxe linen-bound edition, a vinyl set and a digital bundle. The DVD boasts a 24-minute documentary and five music videos.

The Wilburys formed in 1988 after Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison assembled at a California studio to record a B-side for the Harrison single "This Is Love."

The resulting song, "Handle With Care," was instead released under the Wilburys name, with the artists posing as a band of brothers. It went on to reach No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the "Volume 1" album hit No. 3 on The Billboard 200. The reissued version of the album includes the previously unreleased tracks "Maxine" and "Like a Ship."

Orbison died in late 1988 before a second album could be completed; it was eventually released as "Volume 3" in 1990. The set is expanded here with the B-side "Runaway" and "Nobody's Child," which was released on a benefit album for Romanian orphans.

Sales can't buy love for some top bands

NEW YORK - Few bands inspire such intense hatred as Nickelback.

The post-grunge Canadian quartet has been trashed, bashed and hated on by countless critics, music snobs and other like-minded souls. So have much-maligned acts like Hinder, a rock band from Oklahoma; the Grammy-winning Black Eyed Peas, who have spawned infectious rap hits "My Humps" and "Don't Phunk With My Heart"; and Britney Spears, who in her heyday ruled radio but was condemned for everything from her voice to not writing her own songs.

Yet these acts have sold millions upon millions of albums. So are the critics wrong? Do music buyers have bad taste? Is this karmic payback to all the haters?

"There are some bands that, let's face it, are critic-proof," said Nathan Brackett, a senior editor at Rolling Stone. "Just like there are some movies that are critic-proof. Nobody is really reading the reviews for `Norbit,' you know? And nobody's reading Nickelback reviews either."

That might be a good thing. Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons," which debuted at No. 1 on the charts in the fall of 2005 and was still number 16 this week, was called "hard-rock ridiculousness" by The New York Times and "unspeakably awful" by Allmusic.com. Even the late Nirvana frontman and grunge icon Kurt Cobain would disapprove, suggested Rolling Stone, which called the disc "so depressing, you're almost glad Kurt's not around to hear it."

Young people who "are introduced to these bands on the radio, they don't have a lot of baggage," Brackett said. "A lot of kids don't care if an act, you know, kind of took their guitar sound from some other band."

Post-grunge outfits like Nickelback and Hinder continue to be popular — or wreak havoc, whatever your opinion — in part because they appeal to the estrogen set, said Craig Marks, editor in chief of Blender magazine. A "slightly hipper band" will sell more albums to guys than girls, he said.

"They're selling a lot of records to very casual music fans who don't buy a lot of CDs," Marks said. "When you're selling 5 million albums like Nickelback or 2 1/2 million like Hinder, and especially when you're making your mark with big ballads that are kind of wedding songs, then you're selling records to both males and females. And that's often how you get from selling 1 1/2 million records to selling 4 or 5 million records."

When "teenage girls or tween girls like an artist, that's often a sign that ... the artist isn't cool," said Marks, who also gives Spears as an example. "You know, `My little sister likes them.'"

Advertisements, music reviews and fashion trends tell us that "cool" is an edgy rapper, an up-and-coming hipster band or a British chanteuse like Amy Winehouse. Cool is not Nickelback or the Black Eyed Peas. They're not so uncool that they're cool, like Fountains of Wayne.

They're just, in a word, uncool.

Chris St. Peter, 26, of New York, witnessed this hatred years ago at a concert in Boston, where Nickelback was opening for another band in front of an indie-rock crowd.

"They threw batteries at them, which is also terrible but also really funny," St. Peter said. "Nickelback represented everything I think they hated."

Though he didn't hurl any batteries, St. Peter gives the band a thumbs-down. "I hope they go the same way as, like, Creed, and they just sort of disappear."

But for every hater there's a lover like Jaclyn Hafenstein, 30, from Madison, Wis. "Don't they trash them because their music is considered simple, not unique?" she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Why is that bad? Whatever it (is) they're doing, it makes me bob my head and sing along! I can't say that for every band, whether I like them or not."

Often, bands that are popular in places like Wisconsin get dissed by snobs on the coasts. "There's a real danger with ... writers being in their kind of music-critic clique, you know, in either New York or L.A. or San Francisco, and kind of ignoring these bands just because all the critics they know and all the kind of so-called cool kids are ignoring these bands," Brackett said.

He points out that classic acts like Led Zeppelin, the Doors and Billy Joel were at first ignored by critics. Then again, he said, "there are a lot of times when music critics are right."

Acts hoping to collect both money and respect would do well to study an It band like Fall Out Boy, which sells heaps of records to teen girls while delighting the critics, too. They don't take themselves too seriously, unlike, say, the Killers in their latest incarnation or — again — Nickelback.

It all comes back to Nickelback, doesn't it? At least they're now big enough to headline their own shows, and that means no batteries will be hurled.

Only verbal ones, from outside the venue.

"You know, you have to be really popular in order to corral that sort of hatred," Marks said. "It's the best ballplayer on the visiting team who gets booed during the introductions. No one boos the guy off the bench, but you always boo the star of the other team. You know, it is a tribute to their success."

David Letterman goes home sick

NEW YORK - David Letterman showed up for work, but had to go home sick Tuesday before taping the "Late Show."

A stomach bug was to blame, a network spokeswoman said.

Adam Sandler, one of the night's guests, was quickly enlisted to fill in as host.

The CBS late-night personality has had extended absences following heart surgery and a case of the shingles. But this was believed to be the first time Letterman showed up for work and couldn't go on.

He will have time to recover. Letterman had taped Wednesday's show in advance, and he's being pre-empted for NCAA basketball on Thursday and Friday.

"Extras" calling it a wrap after two seasons

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The comedy "Extras" won't return for a third season.

Writer-directors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who also star alongside Ashley Jensen, have decided to forgo another season of the BBC2/HBO series in favor of bowing out with a special finale -- the same way they ended their previous show, "The Office."

"Extras" was nominated for an Emmy last year in the comedy series writing category; guest stars Kate Winslet, Ben Stiller and Patrick Stewart also received Emmy nominations. Gervais starred as a hapless actor looking for his big break.

Exclusive: Shia LeBeouf Talks Indy IV!

Phew, it’s all kicking off over at Indy IV Towers, isn’t it? First of all came today’s news that Cate Blanchett has signed on to play an as-yet undisclosed role opposite Harrison Ford in the fourth Indy movie.

Then an email from an anonymous source dropped into Empire Magazine’s inbox this morning, which speculates that Messrs. Lucas and Spielberg may have finally settled on a title: it's all very unofficial at this point, but the current thinking is that the movie may wind up as Indiana Jones And The City Of Gods.

And, last but not least, our man at ShoWest, the big old exhibitor, erm, exhibition in Las Vegas, has reported back with an exclusive quote or two from Shia LeBeouf on his rumoured involvement in Indy IV/City Of Gods/Whatever It’s Called.

Now, if you’ve been keeping up to date, you’ll know that LeBeouf, who will soon be seen in the forthcoming Transformers, has been linked with the role of Indiana Jones’ son (would that make him Henry Jones III?), with some sources claiming that the deal was as good as done and dusted. But according to The Beef, that just ain’t so.

“I was rumoured to be in Superman as Jimmy Olsen, and I put a lot of eggs in that basket and I was really excited about it, so super-stoked,” said the 20 year-old actor. “Then it fell through. This is that same type of thing for me...”

Ah, but does that mean that there’s some truth in it? After all, for something to possibly fall through, the possibility of it remaining upright must first exist, non?

“It is a rumour, one that I might have started,” continued The Beef. “Who wouldn't? But at this point I don't have it and I'd be lying if I said I did. So it's a rumour, and maybe it's a rumour that's helping or hindering me. I don't know what the role is, I don't know if there is a role... but it's one of those things. It's just another rumour.”

Well, thanks for clearing that up, Shia. As for that rumoured title, it certainly sounds suitably Indiana Jonesy, and right now some of Empire’s finest brains are working hard to figure out if it’s a) genuine, and b) holds any clues as to the object Indy will be looking for this time around. We’re pretty sure that there is no connection to Fernando Meirelles’ classic, City Of God, though. Let the speculation begin!

Bon Jovi Charges Down The 'Highway' On New CD

Bon Jovi will release its next album, "Lost Highway," June 19 via Island/Mercury Nashville. First single "(You Want To) Make a Memory" hits radio tomorrow (March 20); the group will perform it live April 16 during the CMT Awards in Nashville, May 2 on "American Idol" and June 19 on NBC's "Today."

Two other album cuts have already been utilized in TV and film; the title song is featured in the trailer for the John Travolta comedy "Wild Hogs," while "We Got It Going" featuring Big & Rich serves as the theme for ESPN's coverage of the Arena Football League.

The Dann Huff- and John Shanks-produced "Lost Highway" is the follow-up to 2005's "Have a Nice Day," which has sold 1.4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The album's single, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" featuring Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, the first time in almost 30 years that a top billed non-country artist has reached No. 1 with their first attempt at the country chart. It hadn't happened since pop crooner Tom Jones did so with "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" in 1977.

Bon Jovi has yet to announce tour plans; the group finished 2006 with the No. 3 tour according to Billboard Boxscore, grossing $131 million.

Elvis Costello Albums Reborn Via Universal

A hefty batch of reissues as part of Universal's acquisition of the Elvis Costello catalog will arrive May 1. Eleven Costello albums, from 1977's "My Aim Is True" to 1986's "King of America," will re-appear in digipaks with their original U.S. track listings and artwork.

Also due for release are "This Year's Model," "Armed Forces," "Get Happy!!," "Trust," "Almost Blue," "Imperial Bedroom," "Punch the Clock," "Goodbye Cruel World" and "Blood & Chocolate."

In addition, Universal has created two new compilations with track listings supervised by Costello himself. "The Best of Elvis Costello -- The First 10 Years" rounds up 22 songs from the period, including classics such as "Watching the Detectives," "Pump It Up," "Clubland," "Man Out of Time" and "Oliver's Army."

The second album, "Rock and Roll Music," is meant to showcase the more up-tempo side of Costello's oeuvre, from "No Action" and "Lipstick Vogue" to live versions of "Mystery Dance" and "You Belong to Me." Two previously unreleased tracks, an alternate version of "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?" and a demo of "Welcome to the Working Week," are also included.

Costello has also scheduled a short North American tour, beginning May 2 in Los Angeles and running through May 19 in Philadelphia.

Sex and the small screen

Lost's Evangeline Lilly (Kate) and Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey (Derek, aka Dr. McDreamy) are the "Sexiest Stars" on TV.

That's according to TV Guide's first list of the sexiest, which hits newsstands Thursday featuring the No. 1's on separate covers.

The picks, chosen by the magazine's editors, suggest that TV's sexiest show is Grey's: Three of the hit drama's docs made the cut.

Oddly enough, the actor who plays Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), dubbed Dr. McSteamy, isn't hot enough for the top 10.

The steamiest network? ABC, taking half of the sexiest slots, far ahead of NBC's five.

The rest of the ladies:

2. Eva Longoria, Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives
3. Katherine Heigl, Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy
4. Marg Helgenberger, Catherine Willows on CBS' CSI
5. Ali Larter, Niki Sanders on Heroes
6. Nadine Velazquez, Catalina on My Name Is Earl
7. Roselyn Sanchez, Elena Delgado on Without a Trace
8. Rashida Jones, Karen Filippelli on The Office
9. Rebecca Romijn, Alexis Meade on Ugly Betty
10. Jennifer Morrison, Allison Cameron on House

And gentlemen:

2. Sendhil Ramamurthy, Mohinder Suresh on Heroes
3. James Tupper, Jack Slattery on Men in Trees
4. Josh Holloway, Sawyer on Lost
5. Taylor Kitsch, Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights
6. Shemar Moore, Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds
7. Skeet Ulrich, Jake Green on Jericho
8. Eric Mabius, Daniel Meade on Ugly Betty
9. Justin Chambers, Alex Karev on Grey's Anatomy
10. Dave Annable, Justin Walker on Brothers & Sisters

Oshawa preps for 'Colbert Day'

TORONTO (CP) - Ever since his satirical news program took to the airwaves in late 2005, American comic Stephen Colbert has revelled in taunting Canada.

He welcomed Canadian viewers to "The Colbert Report" - pronounced "ra-PORE" - when it launched on The Comedy Network in November '05 by telling them: "I am Stephen Colbert. I have balls. If you're lucky, they might just rub off on you."

When the Conservatives booted the Liberals out of power in last year's federal election, Colbert was quick to take credit, crowing: "I fixed Canada in 77 days!"

Now Canada, it appears, is ready to thank Colbert for his repair work by holding a "Stephen Colbert Day" celebration, featuring none other than Don Cherry himself, the type of no-nonsense straight-shooter who would be well and truly adored by Colbert's faux right-wing pundit.

A night of festivities, including a Colbert lookalike contest, is being held Tuesday in Oshawa, an industrial city east of Toronto better-known for its GM plant than its tendency to whoop it up.

"The only cool thing that has ever happened to Oshawa," commented one blogger on her blog It's Gonna Be a Blue Moon Rising.

Shannon McFadyen, a spokeswoman for the city of Oshawa, said Sunday that Colbert himself is not appearing at the event, but added "The Colbert Report" may send a field producer for a future segment on the show.

Nonetheless, more than 1,500 people are expected to turn out at the General Motors Centre, a gleaming new venue in downtown Oshawa that opened in November and seats 6,000, McFadyen said.

"We're getting a really interesting mix of people who are coming," McFadyen said. "There are hockey fans, Don Cherry fans and then sort of younger university students who are really into the Colbert show. We have a group of kids coming up from New York University, for example, and some interest from Newfoundland. It's a real blend of people because the themes are hockey and comedy."

It all started when about two million Colbert fans inundated an online contest to name the mascot of the Saginaw Spirit, a Michigan OHL team. Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle was born as a tribute to the comedian.

Colbert soon threw his support behind the squad and began trash-talking its OHL rivals, especially the Oshawa Generals.

After a public volley of taunts and counter-taunts, Oshawa Mayor John Gray issued a challenge to Colbert on the eve of a recent showdown between the two teams: if the Generals won, Colbert would have had to wear a Generals jersey for an entire show. If the Spirit won, Gray had to declare Colbert's birthday "Stephen Colbert Day" in Oshawa.

Colbert, whose pundit was inspired by Fox News's belligerent Bill O'Reilly, accepted the challenge but had a more humiliating suggestion: he wanted "Stephen Colbert Day" to be declared not on his own birthday, but on Gray's - March 20. And so it was.

"How old are you going to be?" Colbert asked Gray in a recent interview on his show. "Old enough to know better than to take on Stephen Colbert?"

"Hopefully, in the future, yes," Gray, who turns 48 on Tuesday, admitted sheepishly.

One of the highlights of the night's festivities promises to be the selection of the winning Colbert lookalike.

Five semi-finalists have been chosen from across Canada and the winner will be determined by the competitor who gets the loudest cheers from the audience on Tuesday night. The victor wins a trip to New York City, where he'll attend a taping of the "The Colbert Report," a spawn of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show."

There will also be a hockey challenge featuring a showdown between the team's mascots: the Generals' Shooter and the Spirit's aforementioned Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle.

For the $5 cost of admission, there will also be free cake and Dr. Pepper - Colbert's favourite soft drink.

For McFadyen, the entire Stephen Colbert event signifies that the city of Oshawa, which has long lived in Toronto's shadow, has a sense of fun all its own.

"It's just one of the things we are doing to say Oshawa has a lot to offer. It's an exciting place to be."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles go digital

There's no "Cowabunga" this time around.

That Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rallying cry and the rapid-fire one-liners have fallen by the wayside as the still-lean, still-green, nunchaku-wielding, pizza-eating terrapins return Friday for their fourth film installment. "We just wanted to present them in a more dignified light and make the movie an homage to the comics that spawned the Turtles," says "TMNT" director Kevin Munroe.

Instead of employing martial arts stuntmen in bulky prosthetics, "TMNT" is rendered completely in CGI. And by drawing on the talents of some 370 animators from two continents, Munroe has created a digital New York City in which talking turtles bounding across rooftops and skateboarding through sewers look perfectly in place.

The new Turtles movie comes hot on the heels of two recent comic-book-based blockbusters, "300" and "Ghost Rider." Whether "TMNT" can replicate such success, however, depends on whether fans still connect with Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.

By bringing the Turtles back to their roots, Munroe, a self-professed comic-book geek and Turtles fan (he owns the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comic from 1984), hopes to appease the current generation of fans as well as those who grew up reading the comic books.

"The movie is about family," says Munroe, who served double duty as writer. "Leonardo, who has been off training on his own for a year, comes back to a family that has drifted apart and is charged by their father, Master Splinter, with bringing them back together."

Bat-wielding vigilante Casey Jones (voiced by Chris Evans) is back, as is longtime Turtles ally April O'Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Gone, however, is the Turtles' erstwhile nemesis Shredder; in his place is tech industrialist Max Winters (Patrick Stewart).

In addition to the Turtles, the other "star" of the movie is the special effects, the work of upstart Imagi Animation Studios.

The relatively unknown Hong Kong company, whose brief r–sum– includes producing animation for the short-lived DreamWorks TV series "Father of the Pride," seems like an odd choice to rejuvenate the Turtles, a property that has generated $6 billion in revenue worldwide.

But the president and chief executive of its U.S. office is Thomas Gray, who was the linchpin for the first three Turtles movies.

Up until 1998, Gray was head of production for Hong Kong's Golden Harvest, which is best known for producing most of the Jackie Chan films. It was there that he was approached about making a film based on a comic book featuring human-sized talking turtles named after Renaissance artists.

Gray's visceral response: "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."

At the time, the Turtles, who began life as an obscure independent comic book, were just beginning to break into the mainstream. And after a little coaxing, Gray began to see the upside. "We'll put four of Jackie Chan's stunt guys in suits, make the movie for $3 million and get our money back."

But Gray had a difficult time landing a domestic deal for the movie, whose budget had ballooned to $11 million. "Every studio passed on the film — sometimes twice." Gray finally convinced New Line Cinema to take a chance. The film opened with a $25-million weekend on its way to a final box-office tally of $135 million, making it one of the highest-grossing independent films in history.

Two more movies were rushed to the market, each more expensive and less profitable than its predecessor. By the time the third film was released in 1993 to a gross of just $42 million domestically, it seemed the franchise had run its course.

Fast forward 10 years. After joining Imagi's U.S. studio, Gray was again approached about doing a Turtles movie, this time by Imagi founder Francis Kao.

Although the front end — production design, character design and story-boarding — and the back end of "TMNT were done in the U.S., the long, laborious middle part was produced in Hong Kong.

"We were able to bring the film in at $34 million," Gray said. (By contrast, the budget for Pixar's "Cars," which was created entirely in-house, is estimated at $120 million.)

Another cost-cutting measure involved Imagi's choice of directors: Gray ultimately decided to give 34-year-old Munroe his first shot at directing a feature film.

"They ran out of money, so that got me instead of John Woo," jokes Munroe, referring to early trade reports tying Woo to the Turtles.

Although the movie will certainly appeal to fans watching the current Turtles animated series, the film was definitely made with an eye toward the first generation of Turtles fans, which is why Gray was so surprised when many of the studios that passed on the Turtles the first time around did so again.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein, though, was instantly smitten. "I didn't have any reservations about the movie, none," says Weinstein, who is distributing the movie along with Warner Bros. "It just felt right."

Oscar-losing decision for Academy Awards

The organization that presents the Academy Awards has lost a court battle against an Italian broadcaster over the use of the word Oscar.

A judge in Los Angeles has turned down a suit by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) against RAI International for broadcasting several awards programs, including Oscar del Vino (Wine Oscars) and La Kore — Oscar della Moda (Fashion Oscars ).

The programs are seen in the U.S. through the satellite company EchoStar Communications Corp.

"EchoStar presents evidence that the meaning of Oscar in the Italian-language programs is quite different than the meaning of Oscar in English," wrote Judge Audrey Collins.

"The use of Oscar to describe an award or awards program is arbitrary or fanciful and deserves maximum protection. However, EchoStar has presented evidence showing that the word Oscar could be considered generic in Italy and in the Italian language."

David Quinto, the attorney for AMPAS, argued that the shows are seen by non-Italians in the U.S. and for them Oscar is connected to the Academy Awards.

But in her decision, Collins also noted that the shows highlighted achievement in Italian sectors other than entertainment.

The Academy is still pursuing the case. Quinto told the Hollywood Reporter that AMPAS has requested that EchoStar produce its entire customer list so the Academy can hire experts to gauge whether there is actual confusion over the case.

"The court has simply said on the record before it [that] the evidence was insufficient to grant the motion," said Quinto.

'300' conquers box office for a 2nd week

LOS ANGELES - Spartans continued to fend off the box-office competition as the battle epic "300" took the No. 1 spot for the second-straight weekend with $31.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Warner Bros. movie, the story of vastly outnumbered Spartans defending against Persian invaders, shot past the $100 million mark after just a week in theaters, bringing its total to $127.5 million.

Disney's road comedy "Wild Hogs" also crossed the $100 million mark, remaining the No. 2 movie with $18.8 million to lift its total to $104 million.

Sony's paranormal thriller "Premonition," starring Sandra Bullock as a woman whose husband is killed one day but turns up alive and well the next, debuted in third place with $18 million.

The weekend's two other new wide releases had modest openings. Universal's fright flick "Dead Silence" — the tale of a maniacal ventriloquist dummy, from director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell, the team behind the original "Saw" horror hit — debuted at No. 4 with $7.8 million.

Fox Searchlight's "I Think I Love My Wife," a romance starring Chris Rock as a bored hubby drawn to a temptress ( Kerry Washington), premiered in fifth place with $5.7 million. Rock also co-wrote and directed the movie.

In limited release, IFC's Irish historical drama "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" opened solidly over St. Patrick's Day weekend with $75,311 in nine theaters. The top prize winner at last spring's Cannes Film Festival, the movie is directed by Ken Loach and stars Cillian Murphy in the story of two brothers on opposite sides of Ireland's civil war in the 1920s.

Bad weather on the East Coast and the NCAA basketball tournament, combined with traditional partying on St. Patrick's Day, put a bit of a damper on the box office, particularly among young males who are the main audience for "300."

In Boston, with its heavy Irish-American population, crowds for "300" were down 70 percent on St. Patrick's Day compared to the previous Saturday, while the drop in the rest of the country was just 49 percent, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

Even so, overall box office rose, with the top-12 movies taking in $102.4 million, up 10.5 percent from the same weekend last year.

Movie attendance this year is up 3.5 percent compared to 2006 admissions, with hits such as "300" and "Wild Hogs" giving Hollywood an early start on what is expected to be a huge summer season. Among summer's blockbuster sequels are "Shrek the Third," "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and " Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

"`300' and the other late-spring hits have put us in a fantastic position heading into the homestretch leading up to summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "300," $31.2 million.
2. "Wild Hogs," $18.8 million
3. "Premonition," $18 million.
4. "Dead Silence," $7.8 million.
5. "I Think I Love My Wife," $5.7 million.
6. "Bridge to Terabithia," $5.1 million.
7. "Ghost Rider," $4 million.
8. "Zodiac," $3.1 million.
9. "Norbit," $2.7 million.
10. "Music and Lyrics," $2.2 million.

CBC Radio Two goes after iPod generation with revamped schedule

CBC Radio Two listeners can expect a new evening schedule featuring jazz, live performance and contemporary music beginning Monday.

The new evening programming, the result of a revamp of CBC Radio's arts and culture programming, is designed to attract younger listeners to the network.

Younger means aged 35 to 49, rather than the under-35 listeners who may be more attracted by CBC Radio Three, said Jennifer McGuire, executive director of programming at CBC Radio.

"As a public broadcaster, our mandate is to reflect the breadth and range of diversity across this country," she said. That means music from a wider range of genres and from every region.

CBC research showed that of the estimated 30,000 songs created in Canada annually, only about 0.8 per cent get airplay. The Canadian content of the Radio Two music service will be increased, McGuire said.

The change in the schedule starting Monday is the first stage of a process that will see music programming migrating off CBC Radio One, the news and current affairs-focused main service, but remain the focus of Radio Two.

The new shows that will comprise the Radio Two evening schedule:

- Tonic, 6 to 8 p.m., jazz, blues and world music, hosted by Katie Malloch on weekdays, Tim Tamashiro on weekends.

- Canada Live, 8 to 10 p.m., live performances, hosted by Matt Galloway on weekdays and Patti Schmidt on weekends.

- The Signal, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., contemporary music, hosted by Laurie Brown Monday to Thursday, Pat Carrabré Friday to Sunday.

- Nightstream, 1-6 a.m., a mix of musical genres, hosted by Danielle Charbonneau.

- Show times are a half-hour later in Newfoundland.

Range of styles

While most of the day on Radio Two will continue to be devoted to classical music, the broader range of musical styles is designed to reflect the way people now listen to music.

"If you look at what people have on their iPod, it's usually a whole range of musical styles," said Galloway, the Toronto-based host of Here and Now. Galloway will remain host of the Toronto drive-home show while taking on Canada Live.

"People who like jazz usually like a bit of the blues and they may be interested in world music," he said in an interview with CBC Arts Online.

The Canada Live format features mainly Canadian artists, but a range of musical styles and venues, including concerts recorded by CBC in concert halls, in bars and at festivals.

"The point is to move from place to place and to give a feel for the incredible range of music being created in this country," Galloway said.

The opening show Monday features Maritime singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett performing in concert with Symphony Nova Scotia, St. John's indie artist Amelia Curran and Celso Machado, a Brazilian-born artist who plays guitar, stones and the corpo (his own body) for a unique sound.

On Wednesday, a show from Ottawa will air songs by several Canadian artists —including Phat Al, Acorn, Kelly Lee Evans, Jill Barber and the Mighty Popo — who were commissioned by CBC to write songs based on black historical figures.

That same show features the Ottawa Chamber Music Society playing in a downtown bar and a violin concerto composed by Canadian Steven Gellman.

Brown said The Signal also will stray across a range of genres, featuring music that is rarely heard on radio.

"I want people to discover new artists, people they've never heard of," she said in an interview. "At least once a night I want them to say, 'Who is that? I love that track.'"

The contemporary music she is choosing for the show includes new music, but also electronic, ambience, sound tracks, instrumentals and any artist who can be considered an "original innovator."

New artists

This reflects the way people listen to music now, mixing up genres and tracking down new artists on MySpace or elsewhere on the internet, she said.

"Radio is competing with iPod," Brown said. "Everyone is searching for new discoveries. That's where I find new music — by searching the internet and friends telling me about something new they've heard."

She'll play musicians such as Gavin Byers, Philip Glass, Buck 65, Bjork and Caribou, linking works together by their sound or emotional links.

"It's music that crosses genres," she said. "We might have a composer who grew up writing rock work at composing for orchestra or a jazz musician who invites a DJ to scratch over his work."

Brown, who began as a music journalist with The New Music and was a journalist with CBC TV, makes her radio hosting debut on The Signal. She'll be working out of Toronto four days a week, while composer Carrabré takes over from Winnipeg the other three days.

Malloch, the Montreal-based host of Jazz Beat, which has its last airing this Sunday, turns her skills to a two-hour supper-time program that will play jazz, mixed with a blend of soul, Latin and world-influenced music.

Canadian jazz singer Tamashiro takes over as host of Tonic on the weekends from Calgary.

Montreal-based Charbonneau will be playing a melange of music, from classical and chamber music to jazz and contemporary, in the relaxed overnight program Nightstream.

As part of the change, newscasts on the Radio Two network have shrunk to three minutes and a new dedicated website offers live streaming, blogs and podcasts.

Programs such as Global Village, The Arts Report and Jazz Beat have their last airing this week to make way for the revamped schedule.

The next stage of the changes on CBC Radio includes a revamp of the weekend schedule and creation of a new weekday arts magazine show hosted by musician and CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi to begin airing in April.

Cate Blanchett joins 'Indy 4'

According to HollywoodReporter.com, Cate Blanchett has signed on for Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones 4."

The Academy Award-winning actress will join Harrison Ford on the project; Shia LaBeouf is also rumoured to be involved.

Since plot details are heavily guarded, there is no word on what her role Blanchett will play in the film.

Shooting is set to kick off in June, with a May 22, 2008 release date.

R2-D2 mailboxes to stand guard at U.S. post offices

Three decades ago in a galaxy not so far away, filmmaker George Lucas launched Hollywood's Star Wars phenomenon, and now the U.S. Postal Service is celebrating the film's 30th birthday this year by decorating mailboxes to look like famed droid R2-D2.

Approximately 400 mail collection boxes have been wrapped to look like Lucas's iconic beeping robot and will be distributed across 200 U.S. cities, postal officials announced Thursday.

R2-D2 is among the most prominent characters of the Star Wars universe, beloved by legions of film fans for his heroism, ingenuity and as comic relief in his scenes with his android companion, C-3PO.

News about the mailbox project had been floating online among Star Wars buffs in the past few weeks. Officials also confirmed another web rumour: that the R2 mailboxes are part of a promotion for a new, Star Wars-themed stamp.

"It's a little teaser for the upcoming announcement and we decided to have a little fun with it," said Anita T. Bizzotto, the post office's chief marketing officer.

A further announcement is scheduled for March 28.

While postal officials are encouraging fans to seek out the new R2 mailboxes, they also reminded people not to tamper with them or try to steal the boxes — which is a U.S federal offence.

Fans of the space-fantasy series hailing from all corners of the world are expected to descend on the Los Angeles Convention Center beginning May 24 to celebrate the 30th anniversary at the five-day Star Wars party entitled Celebration.

Scarlett Joins Woody Again

Like most people with a head, eyes and/or a pulse, Woody Allen just can't get enough of Scarlett Johansson. The movie world's foremost brainy bumbler has confirmed that the young actress will work with him for a third time on his as yet untitled film set to shoot in Spain shortly. The two previously worked on Match Point, Allen's best film in years, and Scoop, an equal and opposite reaction to Match Point, i.e. it was crappier than a sewage worker with dysentery.

The film will also star Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall (The Prestige) and will begin filming in early July in Barcelona.

Cowell says he's bigger than Springsteen

NEW YORK - Simon Cowell says he's bigger than The Boss. In an interview to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," the "American Idol" judge says he's worth five times more to Sony BMG than Bruce Springsteen.

"I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen, sure," Cowell says of the 57-year-old rocker, who signed a contract that was reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million.

"I mean, in the last five years, I've probably sold over 100 million records. If (Springsteen) got one hundred (million dollars), I should have got five hundred (million dollars)," he says.

Cowell says he sells all those records because he's signed "the biggest artist on the planet" — Fox network's "American Idol."

"Every single `Idol' winner is now signed through Sony BMG," says Cowell. "And this applies to ... all the countries ... we sell `Idol' to, which is over 30 countries."

Albums by "American Idol" winners and runners-up are distributed by labels within the Sony BMG system through a deal between Clive Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller.

Interviewer Anderson Cooper asks Cowell, 47, whether his deal with Sony BMG is in the same neighborhood as Springsteen's.

"A hundred million ... that's a great deal," Cowell says.

Was he referring to himself or Springsteen?

"For him," Cowell says, grinning. "For him it's a good deal."

Delp suicide note: 'I am a lonely soul'

ATKINSON, N.H. - Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston who killed himself last week, left behind a note in which he called himself "a lonely soul," according to police reports released Thursday.

The note was paper-clipped to the neck of Delp's shirt when police found his body at his Atkinson home, on the bathroom floor, his head on a pillow. He had sealed himself inside with two charcoal grills; toxicology tests showed he had committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Mr. Brad Delp. J'ai une ame solitaire. I am a lonely soul," the note read.

Delp joined Boston in the mid-1970s and sang two of its biggest hits, "More than a Feeling" and "Long Time." He was cremated Wednesday, after a private funeral earlier in the week.

His fiancee, Pamela Sullivan, called police March 9 after noticing a dryer vent tube connected to the exhaust pipe of Delp's car. In the garage, police found a note taped to the door leading into the house.

"To whoever finds this I have hopefully committed suicide. Plan B was to asphyxiate myself in my car."

In another note on a door at the top of the stairs, Delp cautioned that there was carbon monoxide inside.

"I take complete and sole responsibility for my present situation. I have lost my desire to live," he wrote. The note also included instructions on how to contact his fiancee: "Unfortunately she is totally unaware of what I have done."

Police later found four sealed letters in an office addressed to Sullivan, his children, their mother, Micki Delp, and another couple whose identity was not disclosed. Police Lt. William Baldwin said police gave the letters to family members without reading them.

Sullivan told police that Delp "had been depressed for some time, feeling emotional (and) bad about himself," according to the reports.

He had planned to marry Sullivan this summer during a break in a tour with Boston. A lifelong Beatles fan, Delp also played with the tribute band Beatle Juice.

'Johnny Carson Show' out on DVD

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Last year, Joanne Carson reached into the climate-controlled wine cabinet stored in a corner of her Sunset Boulevard home and pulled out a rare vintage.

Carson had in hand 10 carefully maintained episodes of the 1955-56 "The Johnny Carson Show," starring her future husband in days before he made "The Tonight Show" his own.

The black-and-white films were a romantic memento for Joanne Carson: The shy Johnny Carson had wooed her with screenings of the comedy-variety show. He then gave her copies, episode by episode, one for her birthday, one for Christmas, another for Valentine's Day.

"They were valuable to me because they represented a very touching time, a very special time, when you're getting to know someone," said Joanne Carson, whose nine-year marriage to Carson, his second, ended in 1972.

The cache of old shows also stood for a promise.

"About a year before Johnny died, he said, 'Jo, do me a favour. Take those films someday, put them on DVD and share them. Because there aren't going to be any more,' " Joanne Carson, 75, recalled.

Emphysema claimed her former husband in 2005 at age 79. She and Carson had remained in occasional contact over the years, including during his subsequent two marriages.

"Because we started as friends, it was very important to Johnny that we end friends. And we stayed friends," said Joanne Carson.

She was preparing for an auction last year of memorabilia from her late confidant Truman Capote when she rediscovered Carson's courtship gift. "Joanne, you've got gold there," a friend remarked.

The shows are available on a two-disc DVD set from Shout Factory (US$24.98). There were 39 episodes produced of "The Johnny Carson Show," which aired Thursdays at 10 p.m. on CBS, and Johnny had picked his top 10 for Joanne.

She's unsure if there are any other copies. In the early days of television, live shows were recorded by filming a TV monitor. Known as kinescopes, the recordings often were lost.

The networks and producers "didn't keep anything. They erased the first 10 years of 'The Tonight Show,' " Joanne Carson said.

"The Johnny Carson Show" was part of Carson's journey to stardom.

After a series of local radio and TV jobs in Nebraska, where he was raised, Carson started at KNXT-TV in Los Angeles in 1950. His sketch comedy show, "Carson's Cellar," ran from 1951-53 and drew attention from Hollywood. A staff writing job for "The Red Skelton Show" followed.

The program provided Carson with a lucky break. When Skelton was injured backstage, Carson took the comedian's place in front of the cameras.

Producers sought to find the right vehicle for the up-and-coming comic, trying him out as host of the summer quiz show "Earn Your Vacation" (1954) and then "The Johnny Carson Show."

The DVDs reveal a rail-thin Carson, then 29, well-barbered but swimming in baggy suits and oversized shirt collars. He had yet to achieve the carefully tailored look he sported on "Tonight," but his unshakable poise was in evidence.

In his opening greeting to the studio audience and the sketches that followed, hindsight finds elements of the wry Carson charm and the comedy - ranging from pointed to pleasingly silly - that would make him a late-night legend.

"Johnny said to me, when we were watching the films, 'There's me without the polish,' " his ex-wife recounted.

Johnny Carson revelled in playing the kind of characters that would later populate "Tonight," and there are early hints of Carnac the Magnificent and others to come.

Many of the sketches, performed with a stock company that included comedians Virginia Gibson and Barbara Ruick, centred on TV itself, the revolutionary young invention that made the show - and Carson's ambitions - possible.

From the beginning, television couldn't help but be self-referential.

Carson did a bit about a father who comes home to find the TV set out for repair but his children staring, mindlessly, at the space it had occupied. He offered parodies of hit shows, including "You Are There" and "Person to Person," Edward R. Murrow's interview program (Carson's version of the sternly formal newsman was "Ed Furrow").

He envisioned a bright future for himself, he later told Joanne Carson, then the show was cancelled.

"He got very upset about it, left Los Angeles and moved to New York," she said. That's where Joanne Copeland, then an actress and model, met Carson and where he got a fresh start.

There were a few acting roles, then the game show "Who Do You Trust?" (1957-62), then an offer to replace Jack Paar on "Tonight." The late-night show, which Carson hosted until his retirement in 1992, made his career but helped end their marriage, Joanne Carson said.

"Johnny couldn't go anywhere, we couldn't stick our noses out of the door of the apartment, because people would grab at him. He had all these benefits to go to, all these openings. . . . I was a little girl from California," she said. "You just get to a point you can't do this anymore."

But Joanne Carson, who returned West and went on to earn graduate degrees in psychology and physiology, said her memories of Carson himself are only good.

"He was the best of the best. And that kind of style and class - you won't see it again," she said.

Fall Out Boy Ready To Rock On Honda Civic Tour

Pete Wentz says Fall Out Boy fans can expect "the biggest Fall Out Boy show they've ever seen" on the upcoming Honda Civic Tour, which begins April 18 in Charlotte, N.C. But, he adds, big is a relative term.

"A lot of bands right now are doing these really theatrical shows," Wentz tells Billboard.com. "Our friends Panic! At The Disco did this almost circus on stage, and it was crazy. But that's not what our band is. Our band's a rock band, so we look to bands like what Guns N' Roses used to do and what Metallica does and Foo Fighters and bands like that as far as what we're gonna do with our show. It's just gonna be a really, really, really big rock show."

Wentz says that in addition to playing the hits and pumping its latest album, "Infinity on High," the quartet plans to play songs from its catalog that have never been performed live, as well as re-arranged versions of other tracks and covers. "It'll be right back to Michael Jackson, probably," Wentz says of the latter. "I'd say expect Jackson 5 or 'Beat It' or something like that."

Fall Out Boy chose the other bands for the Honda Civic Tour bill, and Wentz says there were specific reasons to include all of them. They share a label with The Academy Is... and Cobra Starship, while rapper Paul Wall is a personal favorite who Wentz acknowledges "some people are gonna love us for and some people are gonna hate us for."

+44, meanwhile, is a chance to pay back blink-182 vets Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker for including Fall Out Boy on one of its tours. "And then," Wentz adds, "I feel like, as a band, we're really in our adolescence and we need someone who's gone through that before to ... show us the ropes and kind of just be around. I think Mark and Travis definitely represent that."

After the 43-date Honda Civic Tour wraps June 10-11 in Chicago, Wentz says Fall Out Boy plans to play some European festivals in the summer and then "go some places we've never been before, like Dubai and South Africa." The group also hopes to go to Uganda, where it works with the awareness group Invisible Children.

Superman Promises More Action Next Time Around

Brandon Routh, the actor who played Superman in last year's franchise revival Superman Returns, has indicated that the producers of the next sequel were sensitive to audience and critical complaints that the film lacked sufficient action sequences.

In an interview with the online edition of Britain's Empire magazine, Routh said that the last man-of-steel movie was formulated so that it would show Superman's love for Lois Lane and villain Rex Luthor using that against him.

"I just know that in the next film there will be a lot of action and I'm gonna get to fight something, or someone. An enemy with real physical power might be worked in there, definitely."

Routh provided no details, saying only that the sequel was about to begin pre-production "so there's a lot of ideas in the air and a lot of discussion about what's going to happen with it. I promise a lot of excitement."

DVD sales off to a slow start in 2007

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Video industry executives concede that any slowdown in DVD sales so far this year is of their own making: Release schedules have been notoriously weak, with a lot of the high-profile titles that traditionally get saved for January or February pushed out the door in December to capitalize on the holiday buying frenzy.

The collective box office value of theatrical DVDs released in January was just $533.5 million, down 28.1% from the January 2006 total of $741.6 million. The February 2007 count was $542.8 million, 8% less than the $588 million theatrical value of February 2006 DVD releases.

Only now, in March, is the industry beginning to see a turnaround, with 17 films coming to DVD after earning $1.03 billion in theaters, essentially flat with the March 2006 theatrical tally.

Four of them grossed more than $100 million theatrically: "Borat" ($128.5 million), which came out on DVD March 6; "Casino Royale" ($167 million), released last Tuesday; "The Pursuit of Happyness" ($162.6 million), due March 27; and "Happy Feet" ($194.8 million), also coming March 27.

There were some success stories early in the year. Lionsgate had its biggest January ever and dominated sales charts with hits like "Saw III" and "Crank."

"Excess product in the holiday period created an opportunity for us in the first quarter," said Lionsgate president Steve Beeks.

Paramount Home Entertainment, too, has had a good first quarter, thanks to such titles as "Flags of Our Fathers," "Babel" and "Flushed Away."

The outlook for April and May is also good, with the box office value of announced April 2007 DVD releases clocking in at $603.3 million, compared with $671.3 million for the final April 2006 roster. And already, several big titles have been slotted for May, including "Dreamgirls" (May 1) and "Apocalypto" (May 22).

Family: Delp's death was suicide

CONCORD, N.H. - The family of Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, said his death was a suicide.

"He was a man who gave all he had to give to everyone around him, whether family, friends, fans or strangers," the family said in a statement relayed by police Wednesday. "He gave as long as he could, as best he could, and he was very tired. We take comfort in knowing that he is now, at last, at peace."

Delp, 55, died Friday at his Atkinson home.

Toxicology tests by the state medical examiner's office showed that Delp committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, said Lt. William Baldwin. Police said Delp had sealed himself inside a bathroom with two charcoal grills sometime between 11:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday afternoon, when he was found by fiancee Pamela Sullivan.

Delp also left two notes taped to a door and letters to his family and Sullivan. Baldwin said police do not know the contents of the letters.

The family's statement said Sullivan, Delp's children and their mother, Delp's ex-wife Micki Delp, were grateful for the sympathy they had received.

Delp joined Boston in the mid-1970s and sang two of its biggest hits, "More than a Feeling" and "Long Time."

He had planned to marry Sullivan this summer during a break in a tour with Boston. A lifelong Beatles fan, Delp also played with the tribute band Beatle Juice.

Beatle Juice performed a benefit last year to help build a new public library in Atkinson, a small town of about 6,000 residents on the Massachusetts border.

The family said last week it planned a private funeral followed by a public memorial to be scheduled later.

Tarantino, Rodriguez bask in Death and Terror

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - On paper, it sounds like the polar opposite of a box office sensation -- a three-hour ode to the Z-grade cinema of the 1970s, shot in the style of the time with enough sex and violence to satiate any exploitation junkie. But when the creative masterminds behind such a project turn out to be Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, suddenly, it seems like a Hollywood gold mine.

Indeed, there are perhaps no other filmmakers who could get a movie like Dimension Films' planned April 6 release "Grindhouse" off the ground.

In "Grindhouse," each director contributed his own feature-length segment to the film -- Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" sees Rose McGowan fend off a plague of zombies with a machine gun leg, while Tarantino's "Death Proof" features Kurt Russell as the homicidal Stuntman Mike, who enjoys running people down with his muscle car, a black Dodge Charger. Connecting the two are fabricated trailers for such upcoming features as "Werewolf Women of the S.S." from guest filmmakers including Eli Roth and Rob Zombie.

Rosario Dawson knows firsthand about Tarantino and Rodriguez's shared passion for grindhouse movies. The "Death Proof" actress starred in Rodriguez' 2005 film "Sin City," and she says it's exciting to work with two filmmakers so consistently committed to pushing cinematic boundaries.

"It was really striking being able to work with (Tarantino)," Dawson told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's the same thing as working with someone like Robert Rodriguez -- these young star directors who have a lot of talent and a lot of stories to tell and a lot of different ways they're capable of telling them."

Although the violent "Grindhouse" content would have most studios running for the hills, Bob Weinstein's Dimension label has enjoyed tremendous success with Rodriguez in the past on films including 2001's "Spy Kids," 2003's "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" and, most recently, "Sin City," a cutting-edge, black-and-white cinematic adaptation of the ultraviolent Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name.

With a budget of roughly $40 million, "Sin City" went on to earn not only rapturous reviews from a nation of awestruck fanboys but also nearly $75 million at the domestic box office -- enough to spawn a sequel that is planned for a tentative 2008 release.

Similarly, Harvey Weinstein's relationship with Tarantino stretches back to the earliest years of the filmmaker's career, when the former video store clerk burst into the industry spotlight in 1992 with "Reservoir Dogs." Over the past 15 years, Tarantino has remained fiercely loyal to the mercurial Weinstein, and together, they have collaborated on films including 1994's landmark "Pulp Fiction," 1997's "Jackie Brown" and 2003's "Kill Bill-Vol. 1" and 2004's "Kill Bill-Vol. 2."

"'Grindhouse' is a tribute to the movies I have loved for decades that have mostly been underappreciated and forgotten," Tarantino said recently in a statement issued regarding the director's grindhouse cinema retrospective at Los Angeles' New Beverly Cinema.

The festival, which runs through May 1, will feature such obscure gems as 1974's "Johnny Tough," 1975's Italian entry "Autopsy" and 1976's "Brotherhood of Death" -- all 35mm prints taken from Tarantino's personal collection.

Ailing "Law & Order" faces uncertain future

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Law & Order" may stumble in its quest to replace "Gunsmoke" as the longest running primetime drama in television history.

The NBC crime show, currently languishing in the ratings after being banished to Fridays in its 17th season, is one of several long-running series whose futures are uncertain.

NBC has begun talks with the show's producers for another season, and sources said the network is seeking a reduction in the license fee it pays for each episode. "Law & Order" is produced by NBC corporate sibling NBC Universal TV Studio and the show's creator, Dick Wolf.

NBC recently sought -- and received -- a lower fee for the right to air the modestly rated Friday drama "Las Vegas." The NBC/DreamWorks-produced show will return for a fifth season, but without co-star Nikki Cox, who fell victim to the tighter budget.

NBC's "Scrubs" is definitely coming back for a season, but possibly on ABC, which in turn is weighing the future of utility players "According to Jim" and "George Lopez."

"Law & Order" is one of the best-known brands in television, yielding two spinoffs, and playing strongly in reruns. Wolf has often said he wants to surpass the record of 20 seasons held by "Gunsmoke," but the ratings are not helping.

So far this season, "Law & Order" is averaging 9.3 million viewers, down from 11.6 million a year ago, when it aired in its traditional Wednesday berth, according to Nielsen Media Research. Its spinoffs, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," are averaging 12.9 million and 9.7 million, respectively, both also down markedly from last year. By contrast, top-rated dramas "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy" pull in about 20 million viewers each.

In the meantime, former "Law & Order" showrunner Rene Balcer has returned to the series as a consultant to write several of the season's remaining episodes. He served as an executive producer/showrunner on the series as well as on "Criminal Intent" until last spring.

The broadcast networks make most of their money during their series' early run, usually around the third year. But by the fifth or sixth seasons, they usually have to pay a license fee that equals the series' production costs. A recent Wall Street Journal report quoted sources as saying NBC pays about $3 million for a single episode of "Criminal Intent."

If one factors in ratings premiums in the range of $100,000-$150,000 per episode paid by the networks that kick in after the fourth season as well as partial reimbursements of the losses incurred by the studios in the early years of the shows, it is no surprise that the networks are taking a careful look at their older series.

In the case of so-called "bubble" shows whose ratings are marginal, the networks have been making the case of bringing them back for a license fee less than 100% of the production cost. The studios can usually make up the difference through domestic reruns and international sales.

Both "Law & Order" and "Vegas" are partially produced in-house, which adds other factors to the equation. For instance, after its current fourth season, "Vegas" has 87 episodes produced. Another season will bring it comfortably above the syndication threshold of 100 episodes, which is beneficial to NBC Universal TV Studio.

Both "Jim," produced by ABC's sister studio ABC TV, and "Lopez," which hails from Warner Bros. TV, were not on ABC's fall schedule, an indication that they might be nearing their end. But "Jim" showed spunk last week, and "Lopez" has done well enough against Fox's "American Idol" that both series are considered quite possible to return, though not necessarily at a license fee that covers 100% of the costs.

Things are far more complicated with "Scrubs" because there is another suitor for the ABC TV-produced show, ABC, which needs an established comedy.

After ABC TV locked up the entire cast of the show, including star Zach Braff, for a seventh season and signing a new deal with the hospital where the quirky comedy is being filmed, "Scrubs" is locked to come back.

Although NBC brass have expressed a commitment to the show, the network has moved the series around the schedule numerous times, and last year it exercised its option for a sixth season at the last minute. Many expect things to go down to the wire again this year.

HIP HOT

This spring in music, it's all about the faceoffs. There's Avril vs. Duff, Trent Reznor vs. the world, and two superstar trios spoiling for a fight. We speak, of course, of Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price vs. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado - and how much do we want to see that dance-off.

This all takes a back seat, meanwhile, to the ultimate battle of the booties: Beyoncé vs. Shakira, who duet for the first time on a new track, "Beautiful Liar."

There's a lot of great music on the way, which is the perfect time for us to take a look at it all!

Keep your eyes open for these albums, coming soon:

CHANTEUSES

Beyoncé and Shakira "Beautiful Liar"

Bootiful Beyoncé and hip-notically slinky Shakira - two of the hottest women in music - get together for a major duet, the third single to peel off Beyoncé's 2006 "B'Day" album. If you already bought that disc, get ready to buy it again.

This number, as well as five others, has been added to the "Deluxe Edition" that'll be re-released next month. Describing the shimmy-shimmy shake song, Miss B said, "It's about a guy who's kind of playing both of us, and instead of us arguing, we say, 'Forget him. Let's stick together.'" And in the steamy "Liar" video they do that with sweaty enthusiasm. (Re-releases April 3)

Hilary Duff "Dignity"

Still in her teens, the 19-year-old Duffalator remains a master of film, perfume and music. On her new disc of original music (she co-wrote every track), Miss D sings about love and lust in ways Lizzie McGuire only dreamed about. This is a straight-up dance/pop record that's just a little dated in its reverence to Madonna. (Out April 3)

Joss Stone "Introducing Joss Stone"

On her third studio album, Stone concocts a mix of vintage soul that's part '70s R&B and part Motown with enough hip-hop to anchor it to this generation. Stone has said, "This music is truly me." Maybe that accounts for the title. Listen for Common on "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now," and the elusive Lauryn Hill takes a bow on the track titled "Music." (Out March 20)

Hayley Westenra "Celtic Treasure"

On her just-in-time for Saint Patrick's Day record, this pure-voiced New Zealand soprano delivers a breathtaking collection that wears enough green to be sufficiently traditional and dynamic to transcend the holiday. She sings a terrific "Danny Boy," but she wins your heart with her cover of "Shenandoah," one of this week's featured MPFrees at nypost.com. (Out today)

The Pierces "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge"

Folk-rock sister act the Pierces are way too pretty to ever have had boys break up with them, yet they sing in harmony with authority about the edgier sides of love. Their original "Louisa" is the perfect love 'em and leave 'em track. These Alabama slammers are among this week's MPFree offerings at nypost.com. (Out March 20)

Avril Lavigne "The Best Damn Thing"

On her third album, Avril Lavigne rediscovers anger as a musical instrument, yet she keeps the tunes aggressively upbeat. He-man Avril haters will finds this a bratty record, but her die-hard fans will easily hear how confident she's become as a performer. Moms be warned: In the edgy rocker "Girlfriend," little Miss Raccoon-eyes adds the oh-so-awful "F" expletive to the word "mother," making us feel the adhesive of a "Parental Advisory" sticker.
(Out April 17)

HIP POP & POETS

Timbaland "Shock Value"

Timbaland says his new album, "Shock Value," is sequenced like a movie - "a nonstop flow that tells a story." What that story is remains under tight wraps, but with guests like Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado featured on the first single, "Give It to Me," and reports that that everyone from Jay-Z to Elton John are doing guest solos, how off can this uber-producer/artist go? (Out March 27)

Jennifer Lopez "Como Ama Una Mujer"

The title of J.Lo's first all-Spanish album means "How a Woman Loves." While this effort could be seen as a wild departure from her pop-oriented music, instead think of it as a savvy move to extend her international standing. Here in America, bets are on that the singer is already prepared to head into the studio to do a "Christina Aguilera" and re-record the entire disc in English for us gringos. And no, "Taco Kisses" - of "South Park" fame - is not one of the tracks on this disc. (Out March 27)

Macy Gray "Big"

Macy Gray has one of those love-it-or-hate-it loopy voices. While she's never equaled the success of her single "I Try," her devoted following is very hot to hear her latest. To help her on this effort, Black Eyed Peas will.i.am and Fergie guest, as do Justin Timberlake, Nas and Natalie Cole. A good crew on a big album. (Out March 27)

Patti Smith "Twelve"

Patti Smith, one of music's most revered artists, shakes off her stodgy standing as a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and revitalizes her career by interpreting a dozen seminal songs from the big book of rock. The tracks include Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?," the Stones' "Gimme Shelter," Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This is a record drenched in greatness from concept to execution. (Out March 24)

THE OLD & THE DEAD

Eddie Money "Wanna Go Back"

In homage to his youth, one-time rock icon Eddie Money has a little fun with an album of '60s cover songs. You can't help but love his on-the-money cover of "Good Lovin'" while the cringe factor grips you during "Build Me Up, Buttercup." Still this record is more fun than folly. (Out today)

Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard & Ray Price "Last of the Breed"

Nashville's three dwarfs - Dopey, Grumpy and Sleepy - band together for an old-fashioned disc of s---kicking twangers. Over the course of two discs, they do their own music and cover the classics that made the Grand Ol' Opry hoot. This is a disc steeped in tradition highlighted by music written by everyone from Gene Autry to Lefty Frizzell. (Out March 20)

John Lee Hooker "Best of Friends"

Duets the late John Lee Hooker recorded with rock and pop stars over the years have been dug up and compiled for this often extraordinary blues/rock record, which features blues revivalists including Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Robert Cray and Ry Cooder. The best of this fine disc is the pairing of long-gone John Lee with Jimmie Vaughan on Hooker's "Boom, Boom." (Out April 3)

Nekromantics "Life is a Grave & I Dig It"

If you liked 2004's "Dead Girls Don't Cry," the new Nekromantics' disc is even better (suposedly they actually rehearsed before going into the studio this time). The death-charged rockabilly by this Danish band is tops on "Horny in a Hearse" and "Panic at the Morgue." (Out April 10)

THE GROUPS

Uncle Earl "Waterloo, Tennessee"

On their sophomore disc, this all-girl string band makes some of the most compelling bluegrass that's ever left Tennessee. The fiddles, banjos and mandolin blend flawlessly, and the harmonies are superb. Helping out the girls on production this time is former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. To hear Uncle Earl, download their song "D&P Blues" at nypost.com's MPFree. (Out today)

John Butler Trio "Grand National"

As a group, the John Butler Trio defies category. A quick spin of this album, and you'd call it American roots rock, but the lyrics have a global quality that's spiritual and also intellectual. The song "Good Excuses," for instance, is a call to return to a basic life away from consumerism, while "Fire in the Sky" is an old-fashioned peace song. Hippie ideals whose time has come again. (Out March 27)

Fountains of Wayne "Traffic and Weather"

Call the music of the Fountains of Wayne short stories set to perfect pop. While everything the band does until they're rockers in rocking chairs will be compared to their old hit "Stacy's Mom," this album of catchy melodies and wisecracking lyrics stands up to repeated listens. It's musically diverse, using the best of rock and pop styles and riffs as touchstones. (Out April 3)

Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero"

Industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails, aka Trent Reznor, takes on its first concept album. In his "Year Zero" opus, Reznor describes America in the year 2022 as an Orwellian world where total governmental control of the people is accepted policy. Strong concept, but does it rock? The first single, "Survivalism," is classic NIN, as are leaked songs including "My Violent Heart" and "In This Twilight." As for the rest, the lid is clamped shut until the April release.

Charlottetown takes another step Aerosmith's way

Charlottetown city council voted Monday night to pay for police and fire services for a major concert this summer, although there is no band confirmed and no price tag attached to those services.

'There's no dollar figure. It's vague and ambiguous.'— Coun. Mitchell Tweel
Rumours have been spreading for weeks that Aerosmith would play Charlottetown this summer.

Concert promoter David Carver, who brought the Black Eyed Peas to the city in September, said he is just a few steps away from following up that act with Aerosmith this year.

"Aerosmith is without a doubt one of the top three concert-selling and album-selling bands ever," Carver told the council meeting.

"I'm getting e-mails from Louisiana, California, New York — people are coming for this show."

It's not uncommon for cities to pay for emergency services for major concerts, but Carver was charged for the overtime put in by police officers and firefighters at the Black Eyed Peas concert last year, a bill that came to $17,000.

City council approved the expenditure in a 5-3 vote.

Carver said it was a worthwhile investment by the city. If he pulls it off, Charlottetown would be one of just three North American stops for Aerosmith in a 2007 world tour.

Coun. Mitchell Tweel is an Aerosmith fan, but he voted against Monday night's resolution because no price tag was attached to the motion.

"If you look at the resolution, it's open-ended," said Tweel.

"There's no dollar figure. It's vague and ambiguous. I mean it could be 50,000, it could be 75,000, it could be 100,000."

Carver said there are just a few details to be worked out, including an aspect of the concert that he said could showcase Charlottetown to the rest of the world.

Backstage At The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

News and notes from backstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held last night (March 12) at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel. R.E.M., Van Halen, Patti Smith, the Ronettes and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were enshrined this year.

R.E.M. played live with former drummer Bill Berry following an induction speech by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, but backstage, Michael Stipe and Mike Mills said for now, just one night on stage with their old mate would have to do. "We've been fortunate enough to play with him several times in the past few years. Maybe we'll do it again. He can't wait to get back to his farm," Mills said. "As a matter of fact, he's already left," Stipe chimed in.

The band will hit the studio to record its next studio album in May with producer Jacknife Lee ("I'm writing songs as we speak," Stipe joked). As reported on Monday, the original quartet recorded a cover of John Lennon's "#9 Dream" for an upcoming Darfur charity album. "We chose that song because there are no lyrics in the chorus," Stipe offered.

Mills said he was thrilled at the diversity of this year's induction class, recalling listening to records from the Sugar Hill label back in Athens, Ga., in the late 1970s. "Who knew back in 1979 when we were listening to this stuff that we'd even meet these guys, much less be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," he beamed.

Backstage, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony said there were no hard feelings they were not included on Van Halen's planned summer tour with David Lee Roth, which is now in shambles. "I totally encourage the thing with Dave," Hagar said. "If Van Halen has any move they should do for the fans right now, it's to do a reunion with Dave." Added Anthony of the absent Roth, "I was waiting for him to come busting through at some point during the speech."

"If we all grew up, including me, maybe all of us could do it together," Hagar said of future Van Halen touring. "I'm down with that." He added, "I planned on taking this year off and just hanging with my family. I haven't done that for a long time. [But] I will tour from my birthday in October through next year."

Velvet Revolver performed in place of Van Halen and without Roth. Frontman Scott Weiland explained the ensuing controversy: "We were asked to perform. Kinda what happened was, he wanted to sing the song 'Jump.' We felt from an artistic standpoint, and I'm being totally honest with you, that it wasn't a song we felt comfortable with. We don't have keyboards. To bring a keyboard on stage wouldn't work for us. We said we'd do "Jamie's Cryin'" or "You Really Got Me," and he was adamant that wasn't okay."

With a new album "a little overdue" but intended for release in "another month or two" on her own Aretha's Records label, Aretha Franklin also spoke excitedly about a new play based on her autobiography, "From These Roots." Auditions begin May 1 in Detroit. "Since the announcement, I have a film offer and telefilm offer for the autobiography," she said, adding that "Dreamgirls" star Jennifer Hudson is being considered to play her in the film. Asked who would play Sam Cooke, she said with a smile, "I don't know, but I'm going to select whoever it is!"

Patti Smith's "People Have the Power" served as this year's show-closing jam, and has for years closed the Tibet House benefit at New York's Carnegie Hall. Asked if she still believes in the song's message, Smith said, "I think the idea is sound. People do have the power; they just have to decide how to use it. Future generations have within their hands unprecedented power. They have the power to unite in moments. I look forward to what they will be doing."

Smith admitted she preferred her band's version of "Because the Night" to 10,000 Maniacs' live take in the early '90s, but admitted that group's Natalie Merchant "is a better singer than me."

Explaining the inspiration behind her controversial song "Rock'n'Roll Ni**er," which she performed, she said she wanted to "take a word that had been used in a derogatory fashion and redefine it as a word for the artist, the outsider."

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's induction into the Rock Hall "opens the gates to our culture," according to Flash. "I want to say to this organization that I thought would possibly be untouchable, thank you. At one point, I was considered some sort of idiot. It is really, really great to know I've got a world full of idiots just like me that love this culture called hip-hop."

Earlier, Furious Five rapper Melle Mel took current hip-hop to task for not evolving. "It never grew up," he said. "It's too young for me. It's too gangster for me. Ain't no criminals up here. I've never been in jail or shot nobody or sold drugs. The industry is supposed to help us redefine hip-hop." The group emphasized how hard it worked to spread hip-hop beyond its New York roots. "We didn't stumble on being in the position we're in right now; we created it," said Kid Creole.

The group has not been active since the mid-1990s, and Scorpio acknowledged the members have had their ups-and-downs in recent years. "We are up here by the grace of God. We're still here. We're still working on it. It's just like any relationship. This is an incredible time for us to try to rekindle. We are trying to take the original Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on a world tour. I think cats like us are worthy enough to do it and won't discredit our people."

The Ronettes' Ronnie Spector didn't take questions in the press room, leaving group member Nedra Talley to field questions about Phil Spector's upcoming murder trial. "I pray that the truth will come out," she said. "I would not want to be in that position. I wouldn't want it for anybody. I thank him for the fact that he gave us a couple of really good songs. God knows the truth and I'll have to trust our system to bring the truth out."

She also quashed discussion of a possible Ronettes tour, saying, "We'd never have the true Ronettes like I remember it and like you remember it."

Spector's iron-fist rule over the trio was referenced when Talley said the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" was actually written with the Ronettes in mind. "Phil wouldn't allow it," she said. "I loved that song and [Beach Boys mastermind] Brian [Wilson] loves the Ronettes. I was told he said he starts every day of his life blasting 'Be My Baby.' So his kids grew up having to hear us every day of their lives.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who accompanied James Brown to his Rock Hall induction in 1986, told reporters Brown had a special place in his heart for the honor. "This was the first mainstream industry that really gave him his due," he said. Commenting on whether or not hip-hop has a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he said, "Rock'n'roll began a whole spirit of self-definition in music. Every generation after picked up the legacy of rock'n'roll by defining itself." Sharpton said his own formative tastes included everything from Motown to gospel to Elvis to country. "I even go to Bon Jovi concerts, when I'm not campaigning," he said with a laugh.

Rock hall welcomes Grandmaster Flash

NEW YORK - Instead of guitars, there were turntables. Scratches replaced soaring riffs. An induction speech was read off a Blackberry. The hip-hop era arrived Monday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were the first hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock Hall, joining other acts that represented a wide swath of artists: college rock favorites R.E.M., punk rock poet Patti Smith, rockers Van Halen and '60s girl group The Ronettes.

Jay-Z, the recently unretired rapper and Def Jam Records president, noted how far rap has come since the days when Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five exposed the world to gritty stories about the streets of New York on songs like "The Message."

"Thirty years later rappers have become rock stars, movie stars, leaders, educators, philanthropists, even CEOs," he said, reading his induction speech from his Blackberry. "None of this would have been possible without the work of these men."

Backstage, Grandmaster Flash talked about how hard-fought hip-hop's now universal acceptance had been.

"There were some that called it a fad. They called it a flash of brilliance, excuse my pun. I think the significance of going into this organization is it's the final place for corporate respect," he said. "They all finally accepted and embraced this wonderful culture we call hip-hop."

But while it was most certainly accepted, the embrace was not as warm as it could have been; the rappers got perhaps the most reserved ovation of the night, with an almost lukewarm response to their somewhat haphazard medley performance.

The night's biggest ovation may have been for the woman who swore she'd never make it in: Patti Smith. The bohemian poet straddled the hippie and punk eras, with her album "Horses" setting a standard for literate rock. At the induction ceremony, she performed her biggest hit, "Because the Night," co-written with Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones' classic, "Gimme Shelter."

Passed over in previous years, an emotional Smith remembered friends and family who didn't live to see the day — and jokingly recalled an argument with her husband, MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith, shortly before he died.

He told her she would get into the hall and that she would feel guilty because he would not make it — even though he was more deserving. He asked her when she did make the hall to "please accept it like a lady and not to say any curse words." (She obliged).

She also remembered her mother asking her on her deathbed if she had made it into the hall yet. When Smith told her she hadn't, her mother said: "When you do, sing your mother's favorite song, the one I like to vacuum to."

So Smith did, dedicating to her mother one of her most fiery songs, 1977's "Rock 'n' Roll N-----."

If the absence of her late loved ones made Smith's induction bittersweet, the absence of most of Van Halen's founding members was downright sour. Eddie Van Halen, who went to rehab last week, was a no-show, as was his brother Alex. Former lead singer David Lee Roth, who sung such hits as "Jump" and "Panama," with the band, boycotted in a dispute over what song he would sing.

The only two who were present were Sammy Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony. Velvet Revolver performed two of the band's hits before Hagar and Anthony performed with the night's house band, led by Paul Shaffer.

Hagar said he wished his bandmates could be there, but "it's out of our control."

"It's hard for Mike and I to be up here to do this, but you couldn't have kept me away from this with a shotgun," Hagar said.

There was a happy reunion, though, for R.E.M., as they welcomed back drummer Bill Berry, who left the band in 1997 after suffering an aneurysm onstage two years earlier.

Out of Athens, Ga., R.E.M. largely invented the college radio scene in the 1980s with songs like "Radio Free Europe." They became mainstream stars with hits like "Losing My Religion" and "Everybody Hurts."

Singer Michael Stipe said his late grandmother once grabbed him by the arm and said what R.E.M. means to her is "'remember every moment.' And this is a moment I shall never forget."

With jewelry dangling from his hair, a mustachioed Keith Richards inducted the Ronettes, the New York City girl group who sang pop symphonies like "Be My Baby" and "Baby I Love You." He recalled hearing them the first time on a tour together in England.

"They could sing all their way right through a wall of sound," Richards said. "They didn't need anything. They touched my heart right there and then and they touch it still."

Lead singer Ronnie Spector thanked a list of people from Cher to Springsteen to her publicist — but made no mention of ex-husband Phil Spector, the producer whose gigantic "wall of sound" is synonymous with the act. The snub was underscored when she gave a special thank you "to our FIRST producer," then cleared her throat.

Ronnie Spector had an acrimonious split with the legendary music man decades ago. His trial for the murder of an actress at his suburban Los Angeles mansion is due to start next week.

After the Ronettes sang a trio of their hits, Shaffer came to the microphone to read a note from Phil Spector, who said, "I wish them all the happiness and good fortune the world has to offer."

Two of rock's most influential figures — and members of its hall — received tributes: Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton honored James Brown, while hall officials remembered one of the institution's founders, record executive Ahmet Ertegun. Both died in December.

One of the evening's highlights came as Aretha Franklin, one of Ertgun's greatest artists at Atlantic, sang the first million-seller she made with Ertegun, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)."

Black Snake Moan.. already?

Despite just hitting theaters, Black Snake Moan is getting ready to hit DVD in June from Paramount Home Entertainment.

When a weathered, God-fearing ex-blues musician finds the town nymphomaniac severely beaten and left for dead on the side of the road, he vows to cure her of her wicked ways in Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer's raw and unflinching follow-up. Lazarus is a hard-living ex-blues guitarist for whom the troubled days are beginning to outnumber the good. Rae is a 22-year-old sex addict whose wild ways are finally about to catch up with her.

When Lazarus discovers Rae covered in dust and clinging to life on the side of the road, he takes her in and nurses her back to health; but Lazarus isn't your typical caregiver, he's more concerned for Rae's immortal soul than he is for her physical well-being. Now, after chaining Rae down and employing the power of the Good Book to curb the salacious seductress' hedonistic ways, Lazarus will be forced to confront his own darkest demons in order to save the soul of a woman whose one-way ticket to hell has already been paid in full. Now, as Lazarus wages a righteous struggle to redeem the soul of the fallen Rae while simultaneously ensuring that his own life hasn't been lived in vein, the situation threatens to explode as Rae's possessive boyfriend, Ronnie — a roughneck Guardsman currently preparing for a tour of duty in Iraq — comes searching for his missing lover.

The DVD will be as no frills as the small Tennessee town in which it takes place.

The film will come in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1, and aside from Sam Jackson's general badassery, will come with no supplements.

Ain't no cure for the blues like Black Snake Moan. The DVD arrives June 26th for $29.99.

Strong seasons for 'Corner Gas' and 'Mosque'

TORONTO (CP) - "Little Mosque on the Prairie" joined CTV's "Corner Gas" this year as a Canadian television rarity - a homegrown situation comedy that attracts a million-plus viewers every week, a feat once routinely achieved only by big American shows.

"Corner Gas" has been a ratings juggernaut since its debut three years ago, with not a single show pulling in fewer than a million viewers. This year, an average 1.7 million Canadians tuned in each week, making it the most-watched sitcom on Canadian airwaves.

Nipping at its heels has been CBC's "Little Mosque," the show about devout Muslims living in a small town in the West that became a bona fide prime-time saviour for the struggling network this year.

The show attracted an average 1.2 million viewers for its eight-episode season - quite an accomplishment given that "Little Mosque" was rushed to air in January after CBC brass decided to capitalize on the worldwide buzz about the sitcom and premiere it this winter instead of waiting till next fall.

The gamble paid off: the show's debut in early January pulled in almost 2.2 million viewers, a record for a series premiere for the CBC.

The finale for "Little Mosque" aired last Wednesday, with the playful romantic tension between Rayyan and Amaar ending the season. The "Corner Gas" finale aired Monday night and featured a visit from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Dog River (spoiler alert: despite the coy promos, Brent didn't sell Corner Gas after all).

But even though both shows are off the air for months, it appears the stage has been set for a battle royal between the two Canadian sitcom giants. "Corner Gas" recently lost two members of its writing team to "Little Mosque" - supervising producer Paul Mather and story editor Rob Sheridan. Mather will become "Mosque"'s head writer while Sheridan is executive story editor.

"We didn't go after 'Corner Gas,"' Mary Darling, executive producer of "Little Mosque," said with a laugh on Monday. "What we did is we put out our feelers on who would be a really good head writer, show-runner type and four different names came forward, all of which we were interested and intrigued by, and Paul was one of them."

Mather's experience at the helm of "Corner Gas" simply couldn't be beat, Darling says.

"The edge that Paul had over the people who we looked at is that he'd worked on half-hour episodic comedy on the show which laid the groundwork in Canada, in my opinion," Darling said. " 'Corner Gas' did it first."

Next year's season of "Little Mosque" promises to be sharper and better than season 1, Darling adds, because the writers now have more time to fine-tune the show.

"What we really recognize from our eight episodes, because we made them on such a compressed schedule, is that they were good, but . . . we think that the potential there is great, and what we want is someone to come in and make it great," she added.

The similarities between "Corner Gas" and "Little Mosque" are plentiful: both are set in rural western communities populated by lovable misfits, both feature humour that is gentle rather than edgy, and both shows have garnered international attention.

While "Corner Gas" has inked huge syndication deals with networks around the world, the same is likely ahead for "Little Mosque on the Prairie" once enough episodes have been made.

Networks from around the world are already interested in licensing the show, says Darling, who's travelling to Cannes in April for the annual MIPTV television trade show.

"I'm literally, for five days straight from 9 to 7 at night, every half hour, talking to the world. And they're not appointments that I've had to initiate, which is the best part of all. There's interest from all over the world in both picking up the show and picking up the format in some countries where the Muslim experience is different."

Networks from the U.S., France, Italy, Taiwan, China, to name just a few, are intrigued, she said.

"The most interesting is the Middle East - some channel that broadcasts through Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq and all these different Middle East countries - they're interested in picking up the show. That's the one I'm most intrigued by. You just have to wonder how well the comedy will travel in Arabic."

The success and the interest in "Little Mosque," Darling adds, has gone beyond her wildest dreams.

"It's fun to see the show out there doing something while people are laughing. It's creating a lot of dialogue and that's more than we could have hoped for."

Borat DVD a top seller in Kazakhstan

Though they often bear the brunt of his jokes, Kazakh citizens have apparently rushed online to buy Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat film, released on DVD worldwide last week.

According to the British arm of online retail giant Amazon, the DVD of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was the most-ordered product from Kazakhstan.

"With the controversy the film caused around the world, it seems residents of Kazakhstan are now desperate to see what all the fuss is about," Rakhi Parekh, head of media at Amazon.co.uk, told the Hollywood Reporter trade newspaper.

No specific sales figures were released.

At the time of its release last November, a growing chorus of Kazakh movie critics and cultural commentators praised Cohen and the film, saying it drew attention to the former Soviet Republic.

Other sought after items by Kazakhs included the album The Very Best of Sting and the Police, the second season of TV's Stargate Atlantis on DVD and books like Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on How to Be a High Performing Leader and The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual: Spas, Pools, Hot Tubs, Rockscapes and Other Water Features.

Last week, the U.S State Department criticized Kazakhstan for its past action against British comedian and actor Cohen.

In 2005, the Kazakh government shut down Cohen's Kazakhstan-based website because of his continued performances as his fictional character Borat — a crass and offensive reporter who spouts anti-Semitic, sexist and generally ridiculous comments about his home country and other subjects.

Cohen first introduced the character on his cable TV program Da Ali G Show. The hit film, for which Cohen won a Golden Globe Award, depicts Borat wandering through the U.S. purportedly making a documentary and portraying Kazahks as well as Americans in an unflattering light. As with his show, the film has drawn controversy and even sparked several lawsuits against Cohen.

New Releases, March 13: Amy Winehouse, Neil Young, Type O Negative

Amy Winehouse "Back to Black"

The buzzed-about U.K. soul singer, who has scored nominations for both the Mercury Music Prize and the Brit Awards, returns with her sophomore album. The record's first single is "Rehab."

Winehouse will support "Back to Black," the follow-up to 2003's successful "Frank," with a short North American tour that includes a pair of performances at the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX.

* * *
Neil Young "Live at Massey Hall"

This CD/DVD combo chronicles the legendary singer/songwriter's famous gig on Jan. 19, 1971 at the landmark Toronto venue.

Included in the set are such fan favorites as "Old Man," "Helpless," "Heart Of Gold," "Cowgirl In The Sand" and "Ohio." The DVD portion of "Live at Massey Hall" also features commentary from the artist.

* * *
Type O Negative "Dead Again"

The popular goth-rock act returns with its first new studio set since 2003's "Life is Killing Me Again." The 10-song album is the band's seventh studio release.

The New York-based group, led by vocalist Peter Steele, will hit the road for a North American swing that kicks off March 28 in Providence, RI.

* * *
Jorma Kaukonen "Stars in My Crown"

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a founding member of both Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, once again draws upon blues, country, bluegrass and folk in this rootsy collection.

The Grammy-nominated vocalist/guitarist is joined on "Stars in My Crown" by an all-star Americana cast that includes Sally Van Meter, Barry Mitterhoff, Reese Wynans and Greg Leisz.

* * *
The Fratellis "Costello Music"

The much-talked-about Scottish trio releases its debut album. The group will cross the Atlantic to support "Costello Music" with a few high-profile North American gigs, including appearances at SXSW (March 15) and the Coachella Valley Music Festival in Indio, CA (April 28).

* * *
Other new releases:
Ken Andrews, "Secrets of the Lost Satellite" (Dinosaur Fight)
Aqualung, "Memory Man" (Sony)
Blue Six, "Aquarian Angel" (Naked)
Marc Ford, "Weary and Wired" (Blues Bureau)
Judy Garland, "The Letter" (DRG)
Innocence Mission, "We Walked in Song" (Badman)
Lucy Kaplansky, "Over the Hills" (Red House)
James Morrison, "Undiscovered" (Interscope)
Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau, "Quartet" (Nonesuch)
Graham Parker, "Don't Tell Columbus" (Bloodshot)
The Roches, "Moonswept" (429)
Musiq Soulchild, "Luvanmusiq" (Atlantic)
Various Artists, "Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles" (Baby Rock)
The View, "Hats Off to the Buskers" (Sony)
Hayley Westenra, "Celtic Treasure" (Decca)

Soundtracks and scores:
"The Lost City" (Univision)

Police: Fiancée Discovered Delp's Body

After trying several times to reach Brad Delp by telephone, fiancée Pamela Sullivan returned to their south New Hampshire home Friday morning and found the Boston frontman dead, the Atkinson Police Department said Monday.

The cause of the 55-year-old rocker's death is still under investigation although authorities have said that they do not suspect foul play. No autopsy is scheduled, but the state medical examiner is awaiting toxicology test results.

Sullivan, who had been planning to tie the knot with Delp this summer, spent Thursday night away from the house, according to a police spokesman.

"She had last heard from him the night before…because she stayed out after work with some colleagues," said Lt. William Baldwin. "She tried that morning three times to get a hold of him, and could not, so she went home and [found] him."

A 911 call summoned Atkinson police to Delp and Sullivan's house on Academy Avenue at about 1:20 p.m. The singer appeared to have been alone at the time of his death, police said.

Baldwin said the police are looking to wrap up their investigation and get those toxicology results by the end of this week.

"He was only 55, and I know he's been a vegetarian for about 30 years," WKNE-FM radio host Parker Springfield, who had met with Delp just last weekend, told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "It's hard to understand what could have happened."

"It's a shock," Springfield said Friday. "Three minutes before he was supposed to go on stage last week we were still chatting—he was just that kind of regular guy, so down-to-earth. The kind of guy who, after a show, would sit at the end of the stage and just talk with people. He really had his ego in check."

During the weekend, friends, family and fans mourned the passing of "the nicest guy in rock and roll," with some leaving flowers on Delp's mailbox and on the front steps of his home.

"What an inspiration," musician Gardner Berry, who fronts the Manchester-based cover band Mama Kicks, told the Union Leader. "I played [Boston] to death, played the grooves right off the vinyl. It's hard to believe he's gone."
Boston hit the big time in 1976 with their multiplatinum self-titled debut, with Delp providing lead vocals on '70s-era classics such as "More Than a Feeling" and "Don't Look Back."

The Danvers, Massachusetts, native parted ways with Boston in 1991 to pursue other projects, but hooked up with his fellow "Amanda" purveyors again in 1997. They released their fifth studio album, Corporate America, in 2002 and played a national arena tour the following year.

Plans had been in the works for a summer tour, during which Delp had been planning to take a moment to swap vows with Sullivan. The musician also had two children from a previous marriage.

"His soaring, seemingly effortless vocals graced millions of Boston records as well as the numerous musical projects that we did together," former Boston member Barry Goudreau, who also played with Delp in the bands Return to Zero and Orion the Hunter, said in a posting on his Website.

"He will be sorely missed by his many friends and his family. Anyone who met Brad knows he was the sweetest, kindest person you could have known. I hope he can rest in peace."

'300' becomes 2007's 1st blockbuster

LOS ANGELES - The ancient battle of Thermopylae was the stuff of 2007's first certified blockbuster as the bloody action tale "300" debuted with ticket sales of $70 million over its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That's about $233,000 for every one of the legendary 300 Spartan soldiers who fought off a much larger Persian force in the epic battle.

"On a Spartan-by-Spartan basis, that's a lot of money," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "Summer came a little early, because this is a summer-style opening."

The number of movie-goers for the Warner Bros. epic "300" outnumbered crowds for the rest of the top-10 movies combined. If the estimate holds when final numbers are released Monday, "300" would break the record for best March debut ever, topping the $68 million haul for "Ice Age: The Meltdown" last year.

"300" played in 3,103 theaters, about 850 fewer than the "Ice Age" sequel, making its box-office performance even more notable. It averaged $22,567 a theater, a whopping number for a wide release.

The total for "300" includes $3.4 million from 62 IMAX theaters, a record opening weekend for the large-screen format.

Buoyed by "300" and some solid holdovers, Hollywood business soared, with the top 12 movies totaling $139.4 million, up 49 percent from the same weekend last year.

"300" bumped off the previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Disney's "Wild Hogs," which slipped to second place but held up well with $28 million, raising its total to $77.4 million.

In limited release, Fox Searchlight's immigrant drama "The Namesake" opened strongly with $250,762 in six theaters, averaging $41,794. Centered on an Indian family's assimilation in America, "The Namesake" expands to more theaters Friday.

Going into the weekend, movie attendance had been lagging 1 percent behind last year because of a slump in January and February. Attendance now is up nearly 2 percent for the year because of the strong weekend, according to Media By Numbers.

"300," adapted from Frank Miller's graphic novel, stars Gerard Butler as Leonidas, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, who leads his vastly outnumbered men against the Persian invaders.

Directed by Zack Snyder ("Dawn of the Dead"), "300" presents the actors against digitally created backgrounds to re-create the look of Miller's graphic novel, a technique similar to that used on the movie adaptation of Miller's "Sin City."

"It's a new-fashioned version of an epic movie. Great, old-fashioned storytelling with all the brilliant use of the technology available to us now," "300" producer Mark Canton said Sunday.

Heavy on violence, the movie had an R rating, normally a damper on a film's blockbuster potential. But "300" wound up with the third-best debut ever for an R-rated movie, behind "The Matrix Reloaded" at $91.8 million and "The Passion of the Christ" at $83.8 million.

"The violence doesn't bother anybody because it's done in a way that's not offensive," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. head of distribution. "People love the movie, they love the originality. The best thing you can have for a film is great word of mouth. When the public is selling the movie for you, that's when you have a real success."

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "300," $70 million.
2. "Wild Hogs," $28 million.
3. "Bridge to Terabithia," $6.9 million.
4. "Ghost Rider," $6.8 million.
5. "Zodiac," $6.77 million.
6. "The Number 23," $4.33 million.
7. "Norbit," $4.3 million.
8. "Music and Lyrics," $3.8 million.
9. "Breach, $2.6 million.
10. "Amazing Grace," $2.5 million.

The Couch Potato Report - March 10th, 2007

This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on an utterly fascinating documentary and three comedies.

A few week ago there were two movie awards ceremonies.

There was the Oscars, presented by The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences.

And the Genies, awarded by The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Most people, including me, gave a wealth of coverage to The Oscars

And very little coverage to The Genies.

The reason "I" did that is because even though there were several films this year - like THE ROCKET, EVE AND THE FIRE HORSE and BON COP BAD COP - that you may have heard of, and can find on DVD, there are more titles that we may never be able to find on DVD.

THE LITTLE BOOK OF REVENGE, THE SECRET LIFE OF HAPPY PEOPLE, CHEECH, EIGHTEEN, THE BEAUTIFUL BEAST, were just some of the films nominated for Genies. How many of those have you heard of?

How about MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES?

Well, that film won Genie Award for Best Documentary and I urge you to search it out because it is now available on DVD.

And it is utterly fascinating.

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is a feature length documentary on the world and work of renowned Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky.

He takes pictures of quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, dams and other things around the world that he refers to as 'manufactured landscapes'.

One of the many incredible places he visits is China to visit one place where they build items, and other where they take them apart.

We also get to visit the Three Gorges Dam, which will soon become the largest hydroelectric river dam in the world, and meet some of the more than a million people who were relocated to make way for it.

And MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES also takes us to a factory floor.

The opening eight minutes of the film is a single tracking shot that shows us a factory floor that is over a kilometre long.

Some movies entertain you, others overwhelm you, MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the latter.

It is utterly fascinating, it is now it is available on DVD, and it is a must see!

Search it out!

The other three releases I have for you this week are comedies.

The always brilliant Rowan Atkinson stars in the black comedy KEEPING MUM.

Atkinson plays a pastor who is preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon.

So, he fails to realize that his wife is having an affair with her golf instructor, that his children are up to no good, and that his sweet, elderly, very helpfull new housekeeper might be killing people.

KEEPING MUM isn't as funny as some of Atkinson's other work, like any of his MISTER BEAN episodes or his brief appearance in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, but it is a quaint little British film that I enjoyed.

There is nothing little, quanit, or British about our next comedy.

The self-proclaimed "Greatest Band on Earth" debut on DVD with their film TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY;

Jack Black is an actor. He has been in the films KING KONG, THE HOLIDAY, HIGH FIDELITY and NACHO LIBRE. But he is also a very talented musician.

In real life, he is in a band called TENACIOUS D with his friend, and fellow actor, the lesser known Kyle Gass.

As a duo they write and perform heavy metal music, with a comedic twist to it.

THE PICK OF DESTINY is a fictional look at how K.G. and J.B. got together and it is the type of comedy made for people who are fans of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, DAZED AND CONFUSED or HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE.

Namely, me.

Finally this week is the film BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN.

Comedian Sascha Baron Cohen created the character of Borat for his TV series "Da Ali G Show" and yes...everything you've heard about this wonderfully bizarre satire is true.

It's disgusting and offensive, and you'll laugh so hard, in spite of yourself

Simply put, it is one of the funniest movies ever made.

The comedies BORAT, TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY and KEEPING MUM and the utterly fascinating Genie Award winning Best Documentary feature MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES are all available now on DVD.

Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report

The unique CBC series TWITCH CITY from the late nineties is now on DVD.

And so is the incredible still airing on CBC show DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES.

Plus, next week I will talk about the useless film SHORTBUS starring CBC radio's own Sook-Yin Lee and the film that finally allowed a man named Daniel to become JAMES BOND - CASINO ROYALE.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

Boston singer Brad Delp found dead

ATKINSON, N.H. (AP) - Brad Delp, the lead singer for Boston, a huge rock sensation in the 1970s, was found dead Friday in his home, police said.

He was 55. Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. EST and found Delp dead. Police Lt. William Baldwin said in a statement the death was "untimely" and there was no indication of foul play. Delp apparently was alone at the time of his death, Baldwin said.

The cause of his death remained under investigation by the Atkinson police and the New Hampshire Medical Examiner's office. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday.

Delp sang vocals on Boston's 1976 hits "More than a Feeling" and "Longtime." He also sang on Boston's most recent album, "Corporate America," released in 2002.

He joined the band in the early 1970s after meeting Tom Scholz, an MIT student interested in experimental methods of recording music, the group's official website said. The band enjoyed its greatest success and influence during its first decade.

The band's last appearance was in November 2006 at Boston's Symphony Hall.

On Friday night, the website was taken down and replaced with the statement: "We just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."

A call to the Swampscott, Mass., home of Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau was not immediately returned Friday night.

R.E.M. Hitting The Studio With Jacknife Lee

R.E.M. will record its 14th studio album this spring with Irish producer Jacknife Lee, best known for his work on U2's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" and Snow Patrol's "Final Straw." The project is expected before the end of the year via Warner Bros.

The new album will be the follow-up to 2004's "Around the Sun," which was afford a chilly critical reception and has sold just 232,00 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"I don't think in terms of directions, but I think this next record might have a little more rock to it," bassist Mike Mills told Billboard.com last fall. "I like 'Around the Sun,' but I think, honestly, it turned out a little slower than we intended for it to, just in terms of the overall speed of songs."

On Monday (March 12), R.E.M. will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. The group will perform at the New York ceremony with drummer Bill Berry, who retired from R.E.M. in 1997.

Eddie Van Halen Enters Rehab Facility, Skipping Rock Hall

Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen has entered a rehabilitation facility for undisclosed reasons, casting further doubt over the band's intended summer reunion tour with David Lee Roth, which derailed last month. "I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best," the guitarist wrote on Van Halen's Web site.

"Some of the issues surrounding the 2007 Van Halen tour are within my ability to change and some are not," he continued. "As far as my rehab is concerned, it is within my ability to change and change for the better. I want you to know that is exactly what I'm doing, so that I may continue to give you the very best I am capable of."

Van Halen made no further mention if there was still any chance a summer tour could happen, saying only, "I look forward to seeing you in the future better than ever and I thank you with all my heart."

Neither Van Halen nor Roth are expected to attend the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday in New York. Ironically, only ex-members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony will represent the rock combo. As previously reported, members of Velvet Revolver will induct the band then play a short set of Van Halen covers.

Film franchises set to do battle

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood executives didn't invent hyperbole. They just perfected it.

Still, they may finally have a valid reason to wield their arsenal of tired superlatives such as "must-see," "can't-miss" and "the event picture of summer."

That's because the three films expected to rule 2007 —Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End— storm theaters not only in the same month, but within weeks of each other.

How May became so log-jammed with behemoth films is the result of hubris, superstition and the confidence of studio chiefs that their film has the goods the competition lacks.

It has created perhaps the highest-stakes game of chicken in industry history. And it could pose a dilemma for theater owners gathering in Las Vegas next week for the ShoWest convention over which movie will get the best and biggest screens.

"Do I wish there were a few more weeks between our movies?" asks Laura Ziskin, producer of the Spider-Man franchise. "Absolutely. I wish summer were six months long."

But with just 21 days separating the third installments of the franchises, studios are waging fierce ad campaigns, scheduling celebrity promo appearances and conducting market research over who has the biggest core demographic.

"It's crazy," says Cameron Diaz, a star of Shrek. "I can't wait to see Pirates. I love Johnny Depp. But I'm sure there's a hidden clause in my contract that says I have to see Shrek at least twice as much as the other movies."

If there are likely winners in this battle royale, it's moviegoers and popcorn peddlers. The three franchises have earned sizable followings with strong reviews, and ticket sales sailed past $2.2 billion domestically.

"These are movies that not only have made a ton of money, but have been good to boot," says Paul Dergarabedian of the industry analysis firm Media By Numbers. "This could easily be the biggest May of all time."

Those stakes are not lost on studio chiefs. As May goes, so typically goes the summer box office — and the year. Executives are hoping that a blistering month will help continue the industry's rebound; last year, theaters reported a 3% increase in attendance, ending a three-year slump.

"May is huge because the kids are getting out of school and it's the start of the summer season," which accounts for about 40% of Hollywood's ticket sales, says Gitesh Pandya of industry tracker BoxOfficeGuru.com. "If these movies somehow don't do well and we go staggering into June, business could be in trouble."

And forget it if your name isn't Spidey, Shrek or Jack Sparrow. "I wouldn't want to be a smaller movie trying to find an audience in May," Pandya says. "This is about being big."

Just like the risks. The month, analysts say, amounts to a high-dollar poker tournament with Sony, Disney and Paramount/DreamWorks at the table. Combined, the movies cost well over $750 million.

And that doesn't include the effect a weak opening could have on a studio's stock value. When Cars premiered last year to $63 million, below most projections, Disney's stock fell.

Studio officials are quick to dismiss a competition between the movies — and each other.

"You guys in the press like to make it a horse race," says Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures, which is releasing Spider-Man. "But we all want each other's movies to do well, and there's plenty of room for all of them."

But Geoffrey Rush isn't buying the peacenik talk.

"The people in the button-down suits act calm and collected," says Rush, who plays the villanous Hector Barbossa in Pirates. "But you can be sure there are a lot of nails getting bitten down to the quick."

With that, here's a look at our May contenders, their secret weapons and their hidden weaknesses:

Spider-Man 3

Release date: May 4

Franchise box office (domestic): $777.3 million

Secret weapon: Comic-book devotees

Hidden weakness: Comic-book devotees' expectations

Shortly after the impressive debuts of the previous two Spider-Man films, filmmakers and executives gathered to talk about, of all things, what went wrong.

"It's the only way to get better," says producer Avi Arad. "Every time you raise the bar, it means you have to raise the next one even higher."

Which may explain why Spider-Man 2 became a critical favorite, although its ticket sales dropped slightly from $403.7 million for the first movie to $373.6 for the sequel.

Even star Tobey Maguire concedes it will be tough to match the quality of the second film.

"I know we have better sequences in this one," he says. "There are darker scenes, funnier scenes. Whether they'll all come together to make them better than the second, I'm still not sure."

After Spider-Man 2 opened, the consensus among Arad, Ziskin and director Sam Raimi was that the next film needed more complex character turns and better special effects.

"The one thing we've always wanted to get right were the vertical fights Spider-Man would have between skyscrapers," Ziskin says. "We pretty much had to give that up in the first one because it was too hard. But we've got it now."

The film also has new characters, including Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, Topher Grace as Venom and Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy.

And it has the advantage of being the first big film of May, the one that kicks off the summer season.

The question is whether Spidey's box-office numbers will hold up. "This one may have the most specific fan base of the three" movies, Pandya says. "But it's hardly just comic-book fans. It's spread to the general public. It will be interesting to see how much of the public is dying to see how the story goes."

Shrek the Third

Release date: May 18

Franchise box office (domestic): $708.9 million

Secret weapon: Adults

Hidden weakness: Risky release date

Even DreamWorks executives were stunned when Shrek 2 became the third-highest-grossing film of all time, raking in $441 million.

"Kids just kept coming back," says Jim Tharp, chief of distribution for DreamWorks, which was later purchased by Paramount. "And they were bringing new friends."

But it worked well beyond the child factor. The film's cutting-edge computer effects and its skewering of pop culture and fairy tales gave adults reason to come, sometimes alone.

"It wasn't parents twiddling their thumbs while their children watched it for the millionth time," Diaz says. "It's very contemporary, more than a lot of other animated movies."

This time around, though, first-time feature director Chris Miller plans to drop some of the topical spoofs in favor of more classic themes, including meaty, comical roles for Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.

"We said, 'Let's bag all of those pop-culture references,' " Miller says. "I think it can date a movie. And Shrek has a lot of classic themes to explore."

Like Arthurian legend. Among the twists of the new film will be a skewering of the King Arthur tales, with Justin Timberlake as Artie, a reluctant heir to the throne.

"He's a gifted actor who's funny," Miller says. "That's what makes our movie stand out. It's the only bona fide comedy."

It's also the only movie with a risky release date. Shrek's opening means that it has only one week before Pirates sails in, gunning for young audiences.

But studio execs say the weekend before Memorial Day is plenty big for two blockbusters.

"I'd say, even after Pirates opens, there's still $150 million in business up for grabs," says Rob Moore, Paramount's head of worldwide marketing. "We opened Shrek and Shrek 2 on those weekends, and it worked out great."

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Release date: May 25

Franchise box office (domestic): $728.7 million

Secret weapon: Johnny Depp

Hidden weakness: Pirate fatigue

Among the Big Three, expectations are highest for Pirates, which snatched the crown from 2002's Spider-Man for biggest debut when last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opened to $135.6 million.

"We tapped into something that the public was really hungry for," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

But what about a successful trilogy finale? Third installments have a spotty track record: just ask Godfather 3 or Matrix: Revolutions.

Rush says that one of Pirates' advantages over the competition "is this is the last one, and it ended on a cliffhanger. If you watched the first two — which a lot of people did — you're going to want to see how this one turns out."

And apparently, people are fond of Depp. "He's the one thing we've got that no one else has," says Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's Motion Picture Group. "He's a lot more than a Hollywood star. He works everywhere in the world."

Pirates may also have an advantage of being the last big film out of the gate. No film is seen as giving Pirates a run for a similar audience until Fantastic Four 2 arrives June 15.

But even Disney executives concede it's risky to assume that Shrek's audience will jump ship after just one week. "We think we'll be No. 1 the weekend we open, but there's no guarantee with a movie like Shrek," Zoradi says. "I wouldn't be surprised if this May we have three $300 million movies."

So who is the favorite? A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted March 2-4 found that 29% of Americans plan to see Pirates in theaters, 24% plan to see Spider-Man and 23% plan to see Shrek. With the poll's margin of error at 3 percentage points, it's anyone's race.

"There's no way I'd get into selling movies or betting who's going to win something like that," Maguire says. "That's why I act."

Here's how the big three stacked up at the box office in the past:

-Spider-Man (2002): $403.7 million
-Spider-Man 2 (2004): $373.6M

-Shrek (2001): $267.7M
-Shrek 2 (2004): $441.2M

-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Blakc Pearl (2002): $305.4M
-Dead Man's Chest (2006): $423.3M

Number of tickets sold: 2003=1.57 billion; 2006= 1.45B

Source: Media By Numbers LLC; Box Office Mojo; Motion Picture Association of America

Winslet awarded damages over diet story

LONDON - Kate Winslet was awarded substantial libel damages Friday after a British magazine wrongly stated that she had visited a diet doctor.

The 31-year-old actress, known for her criticism of excessive dieting, wasn't at London's High Court for the hearing on an article published last month by women's magazine Grazia.

Winslet's lawyer, Rachel Atkins, said the story wrongly stated that Winslet had sought the help of California-based Chinese herbalist Yi Pan for her weight, despite vowing not to bow to Hollywood pressure on actresses to be skinny.

Atkins said Winslet had visited Pan for a neck injury.

Grazia printed an apology in its March 5 issue, saying it was "very happy to set the record straight."

Winslet, a five-time Oscar nominee, said in a statement that she was delighted by the outcome, adding that the magazine had apologized to her in full.

"I am not a hypocrite," she said. "I have always been, and shall continue to be, honest when it comes to body/weight issues. I feel very strongly that `curves' are natural, womanly and real."

Lawyers for Winslet said she would be donating the unspecified but "substantial" damages payment to charity.

Winslet has received Oscar nominations for her roles in "Little Children," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Iris," "Titanic" and "Sense and Sensibility."

Salma Hayek engaged, expecting a baby

NEW YORK - Next up for Salma Hayek is a wedding — and a baby carriage.

The 40-year-old actress is engaged to businessman Francois-Henri Pinault and is pregnant with their first child, her spokeswoman, Cari Ross, said Friday in a statement. No further details were provided.

The Mexico-born Hayek has starred in films such as "Frida," "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" and "After the Sunset." She is one of the executive producers of ABC's "Ugly Betty," in which she recently guest starred as a two-faced magazine editor.

Pinault is chairman and chief executive officer of the luxury goods company PPR SA, which owns high-end labels such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Stella McCartney.

Hayek received an Oscar nomination for her role in 2002's "Frida."

'Toy Story 3,' 'Frog Princess' on tap

NEW YORK - The Walt Disney Co. is in production on "Toy Story 3," via its Pixar Animation Studios, and its first hand-drawn animation project in years, "The Frog Princess," via Disney Animation, John Lasseter, chief creative officer, Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, said Thursday.

In an appearance during Disney's annual shareholder meeting in New Orleans, Lasseter said: "We are finally in production on 'Toy Story 3'," adding the film is scheduled to come out in 2010. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are back on board to voice Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

The screenplay is by Michael Arndt, who just won the original screenplay Academy Award for "Little Miss Sunshine," according to Lasseter, who said: "We got a great story."

He also announced - to much applause - that Disney Animation has started production on "Frog Princess," which goes back to hand-drawn animation and classic Disney fairytales. "Aladdin" and "Little Mermaid" creators Ron Clements and John Musker are the creative forces behind the animated musical, which "takes place entirely in New Orleans," features "the very first African American Disney princess" and includes a "soulful singing alligator," Lasseter said.

In a special surprise, Randy Newman, who spent his childhood in New Orleans and is writing the music for the film, performed a song from "Frog Princess" to big applause.

Discussing other animation projects that his team is currently working on, Lasseter mentioned Pixar's "Wall-E," written and directed by Andrew Stanton, the man behind "Finding Nemo." The film plays 700 years in the future when Wally is a little robot on Earth cleaning the trash-covered planet after the humans evacuated it.

Lasseter also plugged Disney Animation's "American Dog," directed by Chris Williams, about a dog with superpowers who suddenly realizes he is only a TV character and must learn to live in the real world.

Forrest Gump Gets A Sequel

It’s been thirteen years since Forrest Gump first ran into theaters, and now it looks like America’s favorite chocolate loving mental deficient may be back for a sequel. Forrest Gump II isn’t a new idea, Paramount has been kicking it around since the original movie made a bajillion dollars, and in 2001 they even hired Forrest Gump writer Eric Roth to pen a sequel screenplay.

An absolutely reliable, unfortunately anonymous source, contacted me tonight with the latest scoop on Forrest’s impending return. It seems that old 2001 Eric Roth screenplay is being dragged out of development hell for another look by Gump producers Steve Tisch and Wendy Finerman. Remember that the first Forrest Gump movie was based on a novel by Winston Groom. Roth’s sequel script was based on Groom’s followup novel, “Gump & Co”. “Gump & Co” takes place several years after “Forrest Gump” and finds Forrest’s shrimping business failed and Jenny dead, leaving Forrest a single unemployed father. As you’d expect, Gump still stumbles through more important historical events. In this case it’s a cavalcade of history from the 80s and 90s. He even meets Tom Hanks.

So, why didn’t Paramount make this five years ago when Roth first wrote the script? Apparently the project got bogged down in a big legal tiff between Groom, the book’s original author, and the studio. Groom claimed he wasn’t properly paid for Forrest Gump, and so refused to sell them the sequel rights to his other book. Evidently they’ve now worked it out.

The truly important question here is whether or not Tom Hanks will return. Our source says Finerman and Tisch are talking to him, but there’s nothing definitive yet. It is however likely that Gary Sinise will be back as Forrest’s battle damaged buddy Lt. Dan. If Tom can’t be talked into it, will they replace him? Word is they want this in theaters within the next couple of years, so while it’s possible, let’s hope they’re smart enough to scrap it if he’s not interested. No one does a better potty dance.

Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen enters rehab

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen said on Thursday he would enter rehab "to work on myself," a move that appears to rule out a reunion by his troubled band when it is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next week.

The announcement came a month after he and former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, his longtime antagonist, said they would tour North America in the summer. Within weeks, speculation arose the plans had run aground.

The Dutch-born Van Halen, 52, who has long battled alcoholism and survived a bout with tongue cancer, said in an open letter to fans he wanted to do right by them.

"I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best. That's why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110 percent that I feel I owe you and want to give you."

He added: "Some of the issues surrounding the 2007 Van Halen tour are within my ability to change and some are not. As far as my rehab is concerned, it is within my ability to change and change for the better."

The letter was released by his spokeswoman and girlfriend, Janie Liszewski, who did not respond to requests for further information.

The band, famed for such '80s hits as "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher," is scheduled to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York on Monday. The appearance had aroused speculation, given the hostility between Van Halen and Roth, who quit in the mid-'80s, and also between Van Halen and Roth's successor, Sammy Hagar, who was ousted a decade later.

The band, which has not released an album in nine years, parted ways recently with bass player Michael Anthony, and Van Halen installed his 15-year-old son, Wolfgang. The lineup is rounded out by Van Halen's brother, drummer Alex Van Halen.

In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Eddie Van Halen said he had entered rehab twice. He recalled his only drunken-driving arrest came after he had left an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, appalled by everyone's sob story, and stopped at a bar for a few shots.

"I always got hammered to be able to cope," he told the magazine. "I have zero social skills and I don't know how to act, so I get drunk. And then I make a real ass out of myself."

LaBeouf to play 'Indy's' son?

Shia LaBeouf is in talks to play Harrison Ford's son in "Indiana Jones 4," Variety.com reports.

Story details are being kept under wraps, but filming is set for June with a scheduled May, 22, 2008 release date.

LaBeouf is working on a number of other projects -- he can next be seen in "Disturbia," "Transformers" and will provide the lead voice for the animated film "Surf's Up!"

DreamWorks to make movie about Tintin 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks company has committed to produce at least one movie on the famed Belgian cartoon character Tintin, the head of the Tintin studio announced Thursday.

Nick Rodwell of Herge Studios said the Hollywood company will go into preproduction on a film, which should be in theaters in about two years.

It was unclear which of the 24 cartoon books of Tintin's adventures would be picked for a first movie script, he said. "If movie No. 1 works, we will continue."

Talks about a Hollywood movie on the intrepid reporter who saves the lives of countless people and makes sure criminals end up behind bars has been talked about for a quarter-century.

The first plan surfaced just before Tintin's creator, Georges Remi, aka Herge, died in 1983. But financial and production issues have kept Tintin from landing a role in a Hollywood production.

Harper in season finale of 'Corner Gas'

TORONTO (CP) - The popular television comedy Corner Gas will end its fourth season by bringing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to fictitious Dog River, Sask.

CTV says Harper will be featured on the season finale to be broadcast this Monday, weighing in on local controversies which he blames on the previous Liberal government.

Executive producer Virginia Thompson says the episode is dedicated to the loyal fans who have supported Corner Gas for the past four seasons.

The episode will also feature anchors from CTV's Canada AM.

Roughly 1.7 million viewers have tuned in to Corner Gas each week in 2007, placing it among the 20 most popular shows on the air.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill roll out 2007 itinerary

Superstar country couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, who last month announced plans to embark on another co-headlining tour this year, have unveiled the schedule for the run.

Dubbed the "Soul2Soul Tour 2007," the trek launches in early June and is currently scheduled to hit arenas and amphitheaters in 34 cities throughout the US and Canada. Details are included below.

Tickets for the outing will hit the box office March 16, according to a press release. Members of each artist's official fan club will have access to an exclusive ticket pre-sale that launches Monday (3/12); details are available Hill's website.

McGraw and Hill's 2006 "Soul2Soul II Tour" was the highest-grossing country outing in history, as well as the 12th highest-grossing tour of all time, according to concert-industry magazine Pollstar. The 73-concert, 55-city trek was also the fastest-selling tour for the first quarter of 2006, according to Ticketmaster.

"The crowds for every show on Soul2Soul II were out of control--they rocked," McGraw and Hilly said in a joint statement. "To know that we're able to do this again is a great feeling, but we'll have more to live up to this time."

The couple plans to add to the Soul2Soul 2007 setlist some hits that weren't performed during the previous run, including McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying," "Everywhere" and "Real Good Man"; Hill's "Breathe," "Cry," "This Kiss" and "Stealing Kisses"; and the McGraw/Hill duet "It's Your Love."

Fans can also look forward to hearing "Last Dollar," the leadoff single from McGraw's forthcoming album, "Let It Go," which hits stores March 27. The collection is his first new studio set since 2004's "Live Like You Were Dying," and follows last year's "Reflected: Greatest Hits V. 2."

Hill's most recent album is 2005's multi-platinum "Fireflies."

June 2007
6 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center
8 - Saint Paul, MN - Excel Center
11 - Salt Lake City, UT - Delta Center
13 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden Arena
14 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
16 - Vancouver, British Columbia - GM Place
19 - Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
21 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Credit Union Centre
22 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
25 - Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
27 - Ottawa, Ontario - Scotiabank Place
29 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
30 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center

July 2007
6 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
7 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
9 - East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena
11 - Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace
13 - Chicago, IL - United Center
17 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
18 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
20 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
21 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
24 - Sunrise, FL - BankAtlantic Arena
25 - Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
27 - Biloxi, MS - Mississippi Coast Coliseum
28 - Lafayette, LA - Cajundome
29 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Arena
31 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center

August 2007
3 - Glendale, AZ - Glendale Arena
4 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
6 - Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
7 - Fresno, CA - Save Mart Center
8 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
10 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center

Genesis to kick off tour in Toronto

TORONTO (CP) - British supergroup Genesis will kick off their North American reunion tour in Toronto this September.

The "Turn it on Again" tour - named for one of the band's prog-rock hits - lands in the city on Sept. 7 and in Montreal on Sept. 14 following a stint in Europe. Front man Phil Collins told a New York news conference that the 13-city run will include a sampling of the band's best-loved hits, but no solo material.

Ticket for the Montreal show go on sale Saturday, while tickets for the Toronto show go on sale Monday.

Genesis was one of the biggest bands of the 1970s and '80s, with hits such as "Follow You, Follow Me," "That's All" and "Invisible Touch."

Collins says Peter Gabriel, the band's original singer, was too busy with a solo project to join the reunion, the band's first North American tour in 15 years.

Collins, who quit the band to go on a lucrative solo career in 1996, said Wednesday that he's been encouraged to hear that many younger fans have emerged since the group left the limelight.

"There's a lot of people that I've met... people that kind of said (that a tour is) great, because I was too young to see you the first time," said Collins, 56, joined at the announcement by bandmates Mike Rutherford, 56, and Tony Banks, 56.

"They've heard it through their families - moms and dads played it in the house or the kids grow up with it - but they never saw us."

Collins insisted the reunion was not motivated by money, noting that if it was they'd do a far greater number of shows.

"We're still great friends, you know, and we've been great friends since I left the band.... and we've talked about it all the time every time we've met to do something and now is as good a time as (any)."

Genesis was founded in the mid-1960s by Rutherford, Banks, Anthony Phillips and singer Gabriel, who left the group in 1975 and was replaced on vocals by drummer Collins.

Braff gets 'Scrubs' extension

Zach Braff could make an awful lot of money to return for a seventh season of "Scrubs." Now NBC just has to want a seventh season of "Scrubs."

Braff has reportedly reached a one-year deal with Touchstone TV that will pay him a whopping $350,000-plus per episode for a 2007-08 season of "Scrubs."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, though, Braff will only make that money if NBC renews the medical comedy. That seems fair, right?

Fortunately, NBC is expected to keep the series around for one more season, with Braff's deal serving as a major hang-up. Back in January, "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence told reporters that if Braff stuck around, he'd like to keep the show going.

An Emmy nominee for his work as Dr. John Dorian, Braff will now make a per-episode salary in line with Charlie Sheen's recent deal to topline "Two and a Half Men." Of course, "Men" averages nearly 15.2 million viewers per week, while "Scrubs" pulls in closer to 6.9 million. Hollywood is wacky like that.

Braff found box office success as writer-director-star of "Garden State," but failed to strike gold with last fall's "Last Kiss." He next stars in the comedy "The Ex," which has been bouncing around release schedules since a very brief premiere as "Fast Track" last winter.

Maguire Says Goodbye to Spider-Man?

Tobey Maguire has confirmed the upcoming Spider-man 3 will be the last time he plays the superhero on the big screen. Co-star Kirsten Duns

t has also said she feels the third film will be the last in the popular franchise. Maguire says, "To me it seems like this is a natural point for the team to break up because we have a lot of story conclusions that were going along for the main characters for the first two movies and we kind of tie almost everything up for the third movie.

"It feels like a trilogy to me and it feels like the end."

But moviemaker Sam Raimi isn't so sure that it's all over for the web-slinging movie hero. In a recent interview, the director stated he's seriously considering a fourth film.

He explains, "I love Spider-Man and I love working with Kirsten, Tobey, James Franco)... I just have to make sure that when I'm done with Spider-Man 3, I'm really still fascinated with the character.

At this moment I'm fascinated with him." But Raimi insists he couldn't imagine making a fourth installment if Maguire didn't sign on for it. He adds, "I couldn't imagine it."

New CD Releases, March 6th: Arcade Fire, The Stooges, Ry Cooder

Arcade Fire "Neon Bible"

Montreal's acclaimed indie-rock ensemble, led by vocalist Win Butler, returns with another batch of New Wave-inspired tunes. "Neon Bible," the band's second full-length album, follows 2004's popular "Funeral."

The group will support "Neon Bible" with a spring North American tour that kicks off April 26 in San Diego. The trek will include stops at the Coachella Valley Music Festival in Indio, CA (April 28) and the Sasquatch! Festival in George, WA. (May 26).

* * *
The Stooges "The Weirdness"

The legendary rock band, featuring punk-rock godfather Iggy Pop on vocals, will release its first studio album in more than 35 years. The group's previous set was 1973's David Bowie-produced "Raw Power."

Besides Pop, the band also features two other original members--Ron Asheton on guitar and his brother, Scott Asheton, on drums--as well as former Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt. The group will share "The Weirdness" with fans during a spring North American tour that includes a March 17 date at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, TX.

* * *
Ry Cooder "My Name is Buddy"

In a move that harkens back to such early albums as 1971's "In the Purple Valley," the six-time Grammy winner digs into his roots and revisits Dust-Bowl music with this new set of original compositions.

On this album/musical travelogue, Cooder is joined by such collaborators as Van Dyke Parks, Paddy Moloney and Jim Keltner.

* * *
Mary-Chapin Carpenter "The Calling"

The New Jersey-born folk/country artist is back with the follow-up to 2004's "Between Here and Gone." Like her previous album, "The Calling" is said to be another topical record that addresses social concerns such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

* * *
Air "Pocket Symphony"

The Parisian pop stars return with another collection of atmospheric, ambient, electronic numbers. Known for such albums as 1998's "Moon Safari" and 2004's "Talkie Walkie," Air will support its latest with a spring tour that includes an April 29 appearance at the Coachella Valley Music Festival.

* * *
Bryan Ferry "Dylanesque"

The former Roxy Music frontman, having covered several Dylan tracks on previous outings, returns with a full-fledged tribute to the great songwriter. "Dylanesque" includes such selections as "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," "Simple Twist of Fate," "Make You Feel My Love" and "Positively 4th Street."

* * *
Other new releases:
Alabama Thunderpussy, "Open Fire" (Relapse)
Gary Allan, "Greatest Hits" (MCA)
Antibalas, "Security" (Anti/Epitaph)
Patti Austin, "Avant Gershwin" (Rendezvous)
Johnny Cash, "Cash: Ultimate Gospel" (Sony)
Chimaira, "Resurrection" (Ferret Music)
Joey DeFrancesco, "Live: The Authorized Bootleg" (Concord)
Finger Eleven, "Them vs. You vs. Me" (Wind-up)
Half Past Forever, "Take a Chance on Something Beautiful" (Beat Down)
Albert Hammond Jr., "Yours to Keep" (New Line)
Korn, "MTV Unplugged" (Virgin)
Wynton Marsalis, "From the Plantation to the Penitentiary" (Blue Note)
Willy Mason, "If the Ocean Gets Rough" (Astralwerks)
Neal Morse, "Sola Scriptura" (Metal Blade)
The Notorious B.I.G., "Greatest Hits" (Bad Boy)
Rjd2, "Third Hand" (Third Hand)
Relient K, "Five Score and Seven Years Ago" (Capitol)
Sevendust, "Alpha" (Asylum)
Shaw Blades, "Influence" (VH1 Classics)
Son Volt, "Search" (Red Int.)
Amon Tobin, "Foley Room" (Ninja Tune)
!!!, "Myth Takes" (Warp)
Various Artists, "Wow Hymns" (Word)

Soundtracks and scores:
"300: The Battle of Thermopylae" (Warner Bros.)

Bardem says he's joined new Allen movie

MADRID, Spain - Spanish film stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem will work together in Woody Allen's next movie, Bardem told reporters Monday.

Bardem, who was in Barcelona to present the movie "Invisibles," which he produced, confirmed that he and Cruz would be filming with Allen in that city in July and August, the private news agency Europa Press said.

The 38-year-old actor said he had talked with Allen by phone but hadn't yet read the script. Details of Allen's movie, including its title, have not been released.

Bardem, an Oscar nominee for 2000's "Before Night Falls," starred with Cruz in 1992's "Jamon Jamon," directed by Bigas Luna.

Cruz, 32, received a best-actress nomination for Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" at this year's Oscars.

Coldplay Working on New Album

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin said Sunday his band is working on a new album featuring what he called a quintessential song that everybody should hear "before we die."

Martin and his band spoke hours before the final concert of a Latin American tour that took them to Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

The band said it plans to return to the studio after a two-year hiatus to record an album that will have a different sound from "X&Y," which has sold more than 2 million copies since it was released in 2005.

"I think for a long time people felt like we were a band in black-and-white, and now we feel like because we have this incredible job, now we can do whatever we like and try all kinds of new things," Martin said.

He added that the record will include what could be Coldplay's best song yet.

"In order for us to get excited about a new album, we have to have one song that we feel like everybody has to hear ... before we die, otherwise we'll be terribly depressed," Martin said. "So luckily with this new record we're going to make, we have that one song."

"I can't tell you about it, but it's basically genius," he joked.

Martin, who celebrated his 30th birthday on a Mexican beach last week, also said he is proud of Coldplay's activism to raise awareness about free trade practices around the globe and support poor farmers in developing countries.

Martin is a spokesman for the British aid group Oxfam's "Make Trade Fair" campaign, and Oxfam volunteers provide information on free trade and distribute petitions at Coldplay's concerts.

The singer said he has hope for the future with less than two years left in President Bush's term. "I think we're all excited, everyone in the world is excited about the American elections next year," he said. "Sometimes it's easy to give up all hope."

Beastie Boys Eyeing Summer For New Album

An uncharacteristically short three years after their last disc, 2004's "To the 5 Boroughs," the Beastie Boys are putting the finishing touches on a new record. "Hopefully that'll be out this summer, too," group member Adam Yauch tells Billboard.

Though he remained characteristically tight-lipped about details, Yauch says the Beasties plan to air out some of the new material in a series of dates this summer, including a headlining slot at the Sasquatch Festival, to be held May 26-27 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash.

From there, the Beastie Boys head to Europe for a series of festival dates. The band also plays a headlining set in Paris on June 26.

As first reported here Friday, Yauch has also produced a new record by the original lineup of Bad Brains, "Build a Nation," due in late May or early June via Megaforce.

Here are the Beastie Boys' tour dates:

May 27: George, Washington (Sasquatch Festival)
June 10: Lisbon (Alive! Festival)
June 17: Istanbul (Efes Pilsen One Love Festival)
June 22: Scheessel, Germany (Hurricane Festival)
June 24: Neuhasen, Germany (Southside Festival)
June 26: Paris (Le Zenith)
June 28: Werchter, Belgium (Rock Werchter Festival)
June 30: Gdynia, Poland (Heineken Festival)

ACMs Ain't Whistlin' Dixie (Chicks)

Sure they swept the Grammy Awards, but apparently the Dixie Chicks don't fly with the Academy of Country Music.

Nominations were announced Monday for the annual ACM Awards and there was nary a Chick to be found despite the Texas trio's five Grammys for Taking the Long Way. The Chicks have won 10 ACMs in their career, including Entertainer of the Year in 2000, but have been shunned by the Nashville establishment since their President Bush-bashing comments in 2003.

While the Academy of Country Music isn't ready to make nice with the Chicks, the organization made sure the usual Nasville-pleasing subjects were accounted for, led by George Straight, Brooks & Dunn and Rascal Flatts.

Strait, who has collected 15 ACM trophies over the course of his career, notched a leading six awards this year, including the top prize, Entertainer of the Year. Strait will also compete for Male Vocalist, Album of the Year for It Just Comes Natural, Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year, both for "Give It Away," and Video of the Year for "Seashores of Old Mexico."

Brooks & Dunn and Rascal Flatts will face off with Strait in the Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year categories. Brooks & Dunn are also contending for Top Vocal Duo, Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year, while Rascal Flatts is gunning for Top Vocal Group and Single Record of the Year. Brooks & Dunn will also receive the Humanitarian Award.

Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill and Tim McGraw round out the race for Entertainer of the Year.

While she didn't make the cut for the usually testosterone heavy Entertainer of the Year race, Grammy-certified Best New Artist Carrie Underwood is vying for five ACMs: Top Female Vocalist, Album of the Year for Some Hearts and Song of the Year, Single Record of the Year and Video of the Year for “Before He Cheats.” Underwood was named Top New Female Vocalist at the 2006 ACMs.

(It was a good day for American Idol alums as Kellie Pickler picked up a nod for Top New Female Vocalist.)

Other top nominees include the duo Big & Rich, who received four nominations, and Gill, Josh Turner and Gretchen Wilson, who each scored three noms.

The nominations were announced at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville by 2006’s Entertainer of the Year, Chesney, and the duo Sugarland, who won for Top New Duo or Vocal Group in 2006.

"Whenever you get nominated, it's a reflection of a lot of people's hard work," Chesney said.

The 42nd Annual Awards will be given out May 15 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will air live on CBS.

The complete list of nominees:

Entertainer of the Year:
Brooks & Dunn
Kenny Chesney
Tim McGraw
Rascal Flatts
George Strait

Album of the Year:
Brooks & Dunn, Hillbilly Deluxe
George Strait, It Just Comes Natural
Rascal Flatts, Me and My Gang
Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts
Vince Gill, These Days

Single Record of the Year:
Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats"
George Strait, "Give It Away"
Heartland, "I Loved Her First"
Rascal Flatts, "What Hurts the Most"
Josh Turner, "Would You Go With Me"

Song of the Year:
Jason Aldean, "Amarillo Sky"
Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats"
George Strait, "Give It Away"
Rodney Atkins, "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)"
Josh Turner, "Would You Go With Me"

Top Female Vocalist:
Sara Evans
Faith Hill
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Carrie Underwood

Top Male Vocalist:
Kenny Chesney
Toby Keith
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Keith Urban

Top Vocal Group:
Diamond Rio
Emerson Drive
Little Big Town
Lonestar
Rascal Flatts

Top Vocal Duo:
Big & Rich
Brooks & Dunn
Montgomery Gentry
Sugarland
The Wreckers

Top New Female Vocalist:
Miranda Lambert
Kellie Pickler
Taylor Swift

Top New Male Vocalist:
Rodney Atkins
Craig Morgan
Chris Young

Top New Duo or Vocal Group:
Heartland
Little Big Town
The Wreckers

Video of Year:
Big & Rich, "8th of November"
Jason Aldean, "Amarillo Sky"
Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats"
Brooks & Dunn, "Hillbilly Deluxe"
George Strait, "Seashores of Old Mexico"

Vocal Event:
Brooks & Dunn with Vince Gill & Sheryl Crow, "Building Bridges"
Ashley Monroe and Ronnie Dunn, "I Don't Want To"
Josh Turner featuring Ralph Stanley and Marty Roe, Dana Williams and Gene Johnson of Diamond Rio, "Me and God"
Gretchen Wilson featuring Merle Haggard, "Politically Uncorrect"
Hank Williams Jr. with Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Van Zant, "That's How They Do It In Dixie"

Strait's 8 nominations lead ACM awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - George Strait led the nominees announced Monday for the Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nominations, including entertainer of the year and top male vocalist.

Vocal duo Brooks & Dunn got seven nominations and Rascal Flatts had six. The announcement was made at the Country Music Hall of Fame and aired live on CBS' "The Early Show."

The nominees were introduced by Kenny Chesney — the reigning ACM entertainer of the year — and the duo Sugarland.

"Whenever you get nominated, it's a reflection of a lot of people's hard work," Chesney said.

Carrie Underwood received five nominations and Big & Rich got four.

The 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be presented May 15 in Las Vegas.

Strait also was nominated as artist and producer for the album "It Just Comes Natural" and the single "Give it Away," which also was nominated for song of the year.

Brooks & Dunn were honored in the entertainer of the year and the top vocal duo categories, and their "Hillbilly Deluxe" was nominated for album of the year.

Rascal Flatts got nominations for entertainer of the year, top vocal group, best album for "Me and My Gang" and best single for "What Hurts the Most."

Spring movie preview

Think it's hard finding a place to put Anna Nicole Smith? Try being a studio executive who has to decide on a final resting place for their latest female-driven thriller or low-rent action comedy.

With the months of May through August stuffed with the overpriced hot rods of Hollywood, the film industry continues to struggle to find manoeuvring room in the off-season for movies it believes might have a chance at commercial and critical kudos, but would likely be quashed by the latest Shrek or Pirates of the Caribbean instalment.

Which is not to suggest these, or the other releases coming in the next two months, aren't worth your time or money. In fact, some are sure to answer such burning pop-culture questions as, "Grandma, are Spartan warriors the next gay cowboys?" and, "Grandpa, are machine-gun legs the new action heroine accessory?"

Here then, are the 10 films to watch this spring, before summer kicks off with that low-budget art film Spider-Man 3 on May 4.

1: 300 (March 9)

If watching two meaty walls of muscular, scantily clad men clash in heaving, sword-wielding unison sounds more like a scene from a bathhouse than a battlefield, the producers of 300, Zack Synder's lavishly stylized adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel, are, in fact, banking on it. Why? Because if the man-flesh quotient of 300 attracts a completely unintentional demographic -- gay male audiences more intrigued by beefcake than bloodshed -- it could very well propel the movie into one of 2007's earliest, and broadest-based, blockbusters. Not that it was ever going to be starved for filmgoers. Fanboys -- eager for the first Miller fix since Sin City -- are expected to flock to this said-to-be-visually stunning retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae in which a mere 300 Spartan warriors defended their territory and way of life against the mammoth Persian army. Not expected to turn out amid the droves of nerds and gay men? Women.

2: Grindhouse (April 6)

Grindhouse casts Rose McGowan as a zombie-battling amputee with an automatic weapon where her limb used to be. Whatever your feelings about Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's double-barrelled ode to '70s exploitation, you can't deny the infectiously callow carnality of their filmmaking endeavour. McGowan appears in Planet Terror, the Rodriguez-helmed segment of the faux double-feature; Tarantino directs Death Proof, a slasher flick starring Kurt Russell.

3: Blades of Glory (March 30)

Will Ferrell and Jon Heder (a.k.a. Napoleon Dynamite) play male figure skaters who, after they're disqualified from competing, discover a loophole in the rules: They can skate again, but only as a pair. Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and The Office's Jenna Fischer co-star. If you need more than that, take out an ad on a milk carton: Your sense of humour is missing.

4: Shooter (March 23)

Mark Wahlberg's profanely propulsive turn in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning crime opus The Departed proves he can steal scenes from Hollywood's big dogs. So, while the plot for Shooter -- a former Army sniper is framed as an assassin by shadowy forces -- sounds like rehashed Jean Claude Van Damme, Wahlberg's presence is perhaps reason to anticipate more. Then again, it is directed by the guy who made King Arthur and The Replacement Killers.

5: Reign Over Me (March 23)

Oh where art thou, Opera Man? Or Happy Gilmore? Sorry, you'll have to wait until this summer for Adam Sandler to squander his gifts being, you know, funny. Until then, he's taking yet another stab at the dramatic as Charlie, a man whose family was killed in the 9/11 attacks. The always-excellent Don Cheadle co-stars as Charlie's college roommate. Reason to hope? The involvement of writer-director Mike Binder, whose The Upside of Anger was criminally underappreciated.

6: Disturbia (April 13)

You can almost hear the pitch meeting: "It's Rear Window with teens"; Shia LaBeouf plays a troubled kid under house arrest who thinks his neighbour is a killer. But then we'd probably think the same thing if David Morse moved in next door. LaBeouf's performance in this thriller -- along with his turn in July's Transformers -- reportedly so impressed Steven Spielberg, he is rumoured to have cast the young actor as Indiana Jones Jr. in next summer's sequel.

7: Hot Fuzz (April 20)

The creators of Shaun of the Dead follow up that cult comedy with this tale of a top London investigator (Simon Pegg), who is transferred to a small English town. Steve Coogan, Nick Frost and former Bond Timothy Dalton co-star.

8: Vacancy (April 20)

Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale discover the motel has eyes when they realize their room is the set of a snuff film. The trailer looks sufficiently creepy, although we wonder if having bugs slithering across the walls hints at perhaps a bit of overkill on the part of the filmmakers.

9: Fracture (April 20)

Newly minted Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling portrays a lawyer convinced Anthony Hopkins got away with the murder of his wife. One of those cinematic games of cat and mouse ensues.

10: Balls of Fury (April 27)

Is ping-pong the new dodgeball?

The braintrust -- and we use the term loosely -- behind this comedy, set in the world of underground ping-pong tournaments, certainly hope so. We'd be skeptical if not for the presence of Christopher Walken, an actor capable of making a paddle scary.

ALSO PLAYING

Fido: Think Pleasantville with zombies. Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss and Dylan Baker star in this Canadian-made, darkly Tim Burton-esque comedy. (March 9)

The Namesake: The son of Indian immigrants tries to fit in in New York City. (March 9)

Premonition: Sandra Bullock's husband (Julian McMahon) is killed in a car crash and turns up alive the next day. Bullock then tries to use her knowledge of the future to save his life. Or maybe let him die, since she finds out he's been cheating. (March 16)

I Think I Love My Wife: Chris Rock writes, directs and stars in this comedy about infidelity. (March 16)

Dead Silence: Can the makers of Saw do for puppets what they did for torture chambers? (March 16)

First Snow: Guy Pearce stars as a salesman who is told by a psychic he's going to die before the first snow. (March 23)

TMNT: It's not the latest Ted Turner cable channel, but rather, a CG-animated redo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Patrick Stewart and Sarah Michelle Gellar lend their voices to the project. (March 23)

The Last Mimzy: A box of toys unleashes magical powers. Rainn Wilson a.k.a. Dwight from The Office co-stars as probably someone weird. But that's just a guess. (March 23)

Pride: Remember the titans? Yeah, so did the makers of this film, about a teacher in the 1970s who started a swim team for disadvantaged kids, inspiring them to, at the very least, dog-paddle. Terrence Howard stars. (March 23)

The Hills Have Eyes 2: A second helping of radioactive, mutant, in-bred cannibals. (March 23)

Meet The Robinsons: An orphan travels to the future thanks to a time machine and a stranger named Wilbur Robinson in this Disney animated film. (March 30)

Firehouse Dog: A celebrity dog gets separated from his owners and is adopted by a firehouse. (April 4)

The Reaping: Hilary Swank plays a debunker of supernatural phenomenon who travels to a Louisiana town where she'll need more than her belief in science to survive what appears to be the 10 plagues. (April 6)

The Hoax: Richard Gere stars in this real-life story of a guy who convinced everyone his Howard Hughes biography was real. (April 6)

Are We Done Yet? It's an Ice Cube sequel. I'd say we were done a long time ago. (April 6)

Perfect Stranger: Halle Berry and Bruce Willis star in this thriller about sex and strangers on the Internet. (April 13)

Spring Breakdown: Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch agree to watch over their boss' daughter (Amber Tamblyn) during spring break. Hilarity ensues.(April 13)

Year of the Dog: Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon turns up in this comedy about people and the pets they love. From Mike White, who wrote School of Rock. (April 13)

The Nanny Diaries: One reason to have a child: You can hire a nanny who looks like Scarlett Johansson. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney co-star in this comedy about a poor girl who gets a chance taking care of a rich but loopy family. (April 20)

In The Land of Women: Adam Brody discovers if there's life -- or at least work -- after The O.C. (April 20)

Pathfinder: Dances with Vikings. A Norse baby is raised by Native Americans, who are attacked 20 years later by the same rapers and pillagers he was abandoned by. (April 27)

The Invisible: A teenager is killed and walks around his life feeling invisible. (April 27)

The Condemned: After numerous supporting roles (including playing Juggernaut in X-Men 3), former soccer star Vinnie Jones tries to prove he has the balls to make it as an action hero. (April 27)

Biker romp 'Wild Hogs' debuts at No. 1

LOS ANGELES - The biker buddy comedy "Wild Hogs" and its ensemble cast of John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy and Tim Allen was the weekend box office champ with a $38 million take, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was Walt Disney Co.'s biggest March opening ever. It was also the largest-ever debut for the 53-year-old Travolta as well as the best non-animated movie debut for Allen, who is also 53. Macy turns 57 next week and Lawrence turns 42 next month.

"It's so easy to see in the material how much fun they were having together. The audience was looking for that first great comedy of the year," said Disney president of distribution Chuck Viane.

"Wild Hogs" performed well beyond expectations, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. It had been expected to be No. 1 with earnings in the $25 million range, he said.

"It's just astonishing," Dergarabedian said. "It was the perfect vehicle for these four stars. A combination of star power, great concept and great marketing was responsible.

"This is not an Oscar contender, but it's a fun time at the movies. You know, sometimes it's just about escapism."

No other films were even close.

The No. 2 movie was the thriller "Zodiac," which debuted with $13.1 million. "Ghost Rider" fell to No. 3 in its third week of release with $11.5 million, "Bridge to Terabithia" was fourth with $8.6 million, and "The Number 23" dropped to fifth with $7.1 million in its second week.

Eddie Murphy's "Norbit" continued to draw crowds, placing sixth in its fourth week of release with a $6.4 million take that boosted its cumulative tally to $83 million.

"Music & Lyrics" was No. 7 with $4.9 million and the new movie "Black Snake Moan," about an aging black man who chains a young white woman to a radiator to cure her of her demons, only took in $4 million for eighth place.

Rounding out the Top 10 was ninth place "Reno 911!: Miami" with $3.8 million and "Breach" with $3.5 million.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Wild Hogs," $38 million.
2. "Zodiac," $13.1 million.
3. "Ghost Rider," $11.5 million.
4. "Bridge to Terabithia," $8.6 million.
5. "The Number 23," $7.1 million.
6. "Norbit," $6.4 million.
7. "Music & Lyrics," $4.9 million.
8. "Black Snake Moan," $4 million.
9. "Reno 911!: Miami" $3.8 million.
10. "Breach," $3.5 million.

Gone 25 years, Belushi still counts

LOS ANGELES - When a force of nature like John Belushi is lost, 25 years isn't time enough to ease the grief or erase the laughter. Actor-comedian Richard Belzer still dreams about him from time to time, the unselfish friend and "impish genius" who devoured life. John Landis, who directed Belushi in "Animal House" and "The Blues Brothers," is still angry at him for dying foolishly and young.

"Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels feels an obligation to "restate the obvious," that Belushi was profoundly talented and part of the show's creative DNA.

By most measures, the round comic with the sharp edges left a small body of work when a drug overdose killed him at age 33 in March 1982. But his TV, movie and music performances proved influential, hitting the baby-boomer sweet spot and surviving despite pop culture's truncated attention span.

Belushi burst the seams of comedy alongside like-minded performers and writers energized by the social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s. He helped join humor and pop music in a lasting romance and brought renewed attention to Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and other R&B giants.

He etched out the start of a promising acting career, and his best movies reshaped industry expectations by catering to newly empowered young consumers and pushing comedy into the blockbuster realm.

His legacy also includes the bleak Hollywood cliche of destructive behavior, now as much on display as ever with the revolving-door rehab stints of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

For Belushi, his tragic death overshadows but can't diminish his gifts.

Endlessly versatile, he inhabited the samurai deli guy, Joe Cocker, Captain Kirk and more on "Saturday Night Live." He gave us Bluto ("Food fight!") and Jake Blues, on a mission from God to save music. Always, there was a hint of intelligent mischief, if only in a masterfully lifted eyebrow.

In 1978, on the eve of his 30th birthday, Belushi had the No. 1 movie with "Animal House," the No. 1 record (with partner Dan Aykroyd), "Briefcase Full of Blues" and was the heart of television's hottest show.

"No one had broken through like he did," said Bernie Brillstein, Belushi's manager.

He always shared his good fortune and clout with friends, said Belzer ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"). When Belushi found out that Belzer was getting paid less than Belushi and others on a TV show, he threatened to walk unless there was parity.

"He was very generous, too, as a performer ... A lot of great performers raise the game of those around them. He was one of those people," Belzer said.

On the second Blues Brothers album, Belushi included songs from musicians who could use the royalties.

He also regularly lived up to his reputation for excess and excitement. At New York's Drake Hotel in 1977, Landis met him for the first time to discuss doing "Animal House."

"He came into my room like a tornado, this burst of energy," the director recalled. "He immediately called room service, ordering bottles of champagne and Courvoisier and beer and shrimp cocktails for 20, vast amounts of food."

The world was Belushi's, for better and worse, as his contracts rose from $35,000 for "Animal House" to $2 million and more. As it had for others, success fueled destructive excess.

The comedian was found dead on March 5, 1982, in a hotel bungalow at the Chateau Marmont hotel on the fabled Sunset Strip.

Cathy Evelyn Smith, a drug dealer and user who was convicted of injecting Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine, served 18 months in prison.

"If you have a lot of money in your pocket, you will attract a lot of women, you will attract a lot of followers and you will attract a lot of drugs," Brillstein said. "The hangers-on job is to keep the king happy. They will never tell them they're in danger of losing what they have."

Belushi didn't consider himself an addict despite increasingly prodigious drug use, said Tanner Colby, co-author of the 2005 biography "Belushi" (written with Belushi's widow, Judith Belushi Pisano).

"John Belushi, deep down, was a stable guy who knew who he was, had a lot of confidence, wasn't superficial but with no great internal trouble," Colby said. "I think that what happened to him was largely due to fame. For a year and a half, he was as big as Elvis."

Colby is working on a biography of Chris Farley, a later-generation "Saturday Night Live" star who was a drug-overdose victim in 1997, also at age 33. Director Landis had an unsettling encounter with Farley some six months before, in which Farley declared his admiration for "Animal House" and his desire to emulate Belushi.

"I found myself saying, `You know, Chris, John is not the best role model. John is dead,'" Landis recalled.

(Farley's family runs the Chris Farley Foundation to educate young people about the dangers of substance abuse and how to avoid peer pressure.)

Farley was in and out of rehab. Belushi lived in an era with fewer treatment options and, according to some accounts, much more acceptance of drug use.

In her autobiography "You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again," the late Oscar-winning producer Julia Phillips ("The Sting") said she and friends dining at a posh Beverly Hills restaurant back then dumped cocaine on a dinner plate to "toot it off the ends of our steak knives."

Some close to Belushi said they tried to stop him.

"Many times," Landis said. "Do you know any drug addicts, alcoholics? ... It's very, very difficult. It's like saying to a person who has cancer, `Stop fooling around. Stop this (expletive) at once.'"

His friend faced a difficult fight, Belzer said.

"On some level he was gallantly struggling to straighten himself out, but the nature of the business, the nature of his personality and some of the people around him just made it harder," he said. "That happens to a lot of celebrities, when no one can say `no' around them."

Landis saw the dire results. In 1978's "Animal House," Belushi was a disciplined and collaborative actor who took the "crazed, wild character" of frat boy Bluto and made him lovable, said the director.

"By the time of `The Blues Brothers' (1980), he had a very bad drug problem," Landis said, and it started undermining his work. His last project was 1981's "Neighbors" with Aykroyd; he was set to make "Ghostbusters," which filmed after his death with Bill Murray replacing him.

What might a clean Belushi have gone on to do? His career could have paralleled that of Murray, his former "Saturday Night Live" co-star who traveled from "Caddyshack" to a 2004 Oscar nomination for his poignant performance in "Lost in Translation."

"I think John had a depth to his talent that would have allowed him to reinvent himself," Michaels said.

Landis agrees. "He could have done anything."

"Wild Hogs" riding high at box office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The road-trip comedy "Wild Hogs" will blaze a trail at the weekend box office in North America, leaving fellow rookies "Zodiac" and "Black Snake Moan" in the dust, industry trackers say.

"Hogs" stars John Travolta, Tim Allen, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence as middle-aged suburbanites who take their motor-cycles on a road trip in an effort to reclaim their youth.

Drawing interest primarily from the over-25 crowd, "Hogs" should open in the $20 million range for the three-day period, but never underestimate Disney's marketing efforts; the film could get into the mid-$20 millions.

"Zodiac" is expected to open in the low- to midteen millions, while "Black Snake Moan" is unlikely to top $10 million. The edgy Paramount releases are earning strong reviews, and because there isn't much cutting-edge product in the marketplace, they could surprise.

"Zodiac," starring Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo, revolves around men who become obsessed with the Bay Area's Zodiac Killer.

Based on a book by Robert Graysmith, it marks director David Fincher's follow-up to 2002's "Panic Room," which bowed to an astounding $30 million. "Zodiac" is more likely to match "Seven," which debuted to $13.9 million in 1995.

One thing for sure is that Jim Carrey's critically maligned psychological thriller "The Number 23" will take a big hit after opening at No. 2 last weekend with $14.6 million behind "Ghost Rider" with $20.1 million.

"Black Snake Moan" also is likely to take a bite out of "23." The pulpy, B-style movie centers on a Southern preacher ( Samuel L. Jackson) who chains a woman of ill repute ( Christina Ricci) to a radiator in the hopes of redeeming her soul. The film is from "Hustle & Flow" writer-director Craig Brewer.

In limited release, New Line bows "Full of It" in 15 theaters. The teen comedy stars Ryan Pinkston as an outcast who wakes up one morning to discover that all of his lies have come true. It is unlikely to do much business.

MGM opens "Two Weeks" in 12 theaters. It revolves around a dysfunctional family that reunites for a mother's final days, only to be stuck together for two weeks as she hangs on longer than expected.

White Stripes wrap up new disc

The White Stripes have announced details of their new album, "Icky Thump."

According to a posting on their official website, the duo has finished recording and mixing the album at Nashville, Tenn.'s Blackbird Studio.

"We are doing out best (whatever that is) to release the album as soon as corporately possible," read the post. "And though we are tired, worn, weary, hungry, cold, and left without an ounce of nutrition amongst ourselves, we are in the midst of planning performance type shows aroundst [sic] the world."

Some song titles include:

"Catch Hell Blues"

"Little Cream Soda"

"Monkeys have it Easy"

"Rag and Bone"

"Clicky Bump"

"Blue Orchid"

"I'm Slowly Turning into you."

"You Don't Know What Love is (You Just Do as You're Told)"