KITT Gets a New Voice: Val Kilmer
NBC is making some last-minute changes under the hood of its "Knight Rider" update, bringing in Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT.
The "Top Gun" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" star is taking over voice-over duties from Will Arnett ("Arrested Development"). Instead of the usual "creative differences," though, Arnett's departure was caused by the fact that he's already the voice of a different kind of vehicle.
In the new "Knight Rider," which NBC is calling a sequel to the 1980s series, KITT is a Ford Mustang. Arnett, however, has done commercial voice-overs for GMC Trucks for several years, and General Motors asked him to withdraw from the project, in which Ford is a marketing partner.
"I was very excited at the prospect of playing the part of KITT in the new 'Knight Rider' movie," Arnett tells Variety. "However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project."
Kilmer has done a fair amount of voice-over work in his career. He starred in the 1998 animated movie "The Prince of Egypt" and has lent his pipes to several commercials. His recent on-screen credits include "Comanche Moon," "Alexander" and "Wonderland."
"Knight Rider" is scheduled to air Sunday, Feb. 17 on NBC, and if the movie does well it could become a weekly series.
Billy Joel To Be Shea's 'Last Play'
Billy Joel will be the last artist to play at New York's Shea Stadium with a July 16 concert billed as "The Last Play at Shea, From the Beatles to Billy." The show comes in the midst of the New York Mets' final season at Shea; the team moves into its new home at Citi Field in 2009.
The Joel show, promoted by Live Nation in association with Mitch Slater, goes on sale Feb. 16. Joel joins a long list of Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will have played the Queens, N.Y. baseball stadium, beginning with the Beatles in August 1965 and including including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Police, Eric Clapton, Elton John, and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
"The Last Play at Shea," which comes the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, makes Joel the only artist to ever have played both Yankee Stadium (two nights in 1991) and Shea Stadium. It is also the first in-season concert at Shea since Clapton and John played there during the 1992 baseball season.
On of the world's top concert draws, Joel took in $40 million in 2007 from only 29 shows according to Billboard Boxscore. This year, Joel is "not touring, just working," his longtime agent Dennis Arfa tells Billboard.com. "We put weeks together instead of months."
Joel is out for a brief run beginning Feb. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim and including stops in Sacramento (26), Denver (28), Milwaukee (March 2). He then plays Des Moines on April 15 and Pittsburgh April 18, prior to headlining the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival April 26.
Winehouse to sing via satellite at show
LONDON - Amy Winehouse will not attend this year's Grammy Awards because her request for a visa was denied, but she will perform by satellite at Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles.
Winehouse and her acclaimed "Back to Black" album are nominated for Grammys in six categories. She will perform material from the album, an executive close to the Grammys told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Thursday.
The Outside Organization, which counts the troubled retro-soul sensation among its clients, said in an e-mail that Winehouse — who shot to fame with the autobiographical single "Rehab" — was disappointed that her request for a visa had been turned down by the U.S. Embassy.
"Amy has been progressing well since entering a rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago and although disappointed with the decision has accepted the ruling and will be concentrating on her recovery," the Outside Organization said.
The statement didn't say why her application was rejected. The U.S. Embassy in London and the State Department in Washington declined to comment late Thursday. Shane O'Neill, Winehouse's spokesman, said he had nothing to add.
Los Angeles immigration lawyer Bernie Wolfsdorf called it surprising that Winehouse wasn't able to obtain a visa. Although she has a marijuana arrest on her record that could be used for exclusion from the United States, Wolfsdorf said it is commonplace for entertainers to be granted a waiver for such an offense, particularly if they are just making a quick visit to appear at an awards show.
"I am going to say it appears to be an aberration at this time compared to the situation of many others. The list of British rock stars with pot convictions is longer than my arm," said Wolfsdorf, vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
He said it is possible, however, that Winehouse's drug transgressions were so recent that authorities are reluctant to grant her a visa until she demonstrates more fully that "she has moved toward the path of rehabilitation."
Winehouse's potent blend of blues, jazz, pop and soul has won praise from critics and fans, but her chaotic personal life has increasingly upstaged her music. Concerned family members regularly beg Winehouse to seek help in letters splashed across the pages of British tabloid newspapers and magazines.
Since the album's U.S. release last year, she has canceled a slew of appearances amid reports of drug use. Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, is accused of attacking a pub landlord and later conspiring with the landlord to have him withdraw as a witness at the trial.
Last month, The Sun newspaper ran still images from a video that it claimed showed Winehouse inhaling fumes from a small pipe. The images were said to have been filmed during a party at her London home.
Shortly thereafter, Winehouse entered a London rehabilitation center, and has been questioned by police.
In October, Winehouse and Fielder-Civil, were arrested in Norway on charges of marijuana possession, for which they were fined. In November, Winehouse's Norwegian attorney, Ole Kvelstad, said her payment of the fine amounted to a guilty plea, which he said could have serious consequences if she sought to enter the U.S.
Winehouse canceled an appearance at the 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards in November "due to visa issues."
Other British music acts have had difficulty securing visas. Lily Allen was scheduled to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards in September, but the pop star's immigration visa was revoked. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services hasn't commented, but her manager has said he suspected it was because Allen was arrested in London in June after an altercation with photographers.