People 9B

If one is good, nine are better for Emmys

LOS ANGELES -- If one funny host is a good thing, organizers of the 55th annual Emmy Awards are banking on a bunch of them being even better.

Nine comedians-- Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Garrett, Darrell Hammond, George Lopez, Conan O'Brien, Garry Shandling, Martin Short, Jon Stewart and Wanda Sykes -- will play host at this year's Emmy show, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Friday.

The show will be broadcast Sept. 21 on Fox, with a different host after each break.

DeGeneres shared hosting duties with Shandling at last year's show.

Don Mischer, executive producer of this year's broadcast, said producers wanted to "try something different."

"Instead of one comedic point of view running through the show, there will be many," Mischer said. "Each act of the three-hour broadcast will begin with a different comic personality."

Howard Stern cools off over 'Are You Hot?'

LOS ANGELES -- Howard Stern has settled a lawsuit against the producers of the television series "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People," which he claimed was based on an idea stolen from his radio show.

The two-page dismissal notice on the suit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Terms were not disclosed.

Stern sued ABC and Telepictures Productions in March, claiming "Are You Hot?" was derived from a segment on his syndicated radio show called "The Evaluators." In the segment, Stern and three panelists comment frankly on contestants' physical attributes, rating them on their worthiness to appear in various men's magazines.

In the television show, contestants had their looks evaluated by three panelists.

Stern claimed in his suit that he lost a deal with another broadcast outlet after "Are You Hot?" began airing in February.

"Are You Hot?" was co-produced by Scott Eizinger, a former producer of the TV version of Stern's radio show that is broadcast nightly on the E! Entertainment cable channel.

A call to Martin Singer, attorney for Stern, was not immediately returned Friday.

Jonathan Anschell, attorney for ABC and Telepictures Productions, confirmed the settlement but declined to elaborate.-- From wire reports

------

MIAMI (AP) -- At least three Cuban nominees for the Latin Grammy Awards probably won't make the show because the State Department won't have time to issue their visas.

Veteran singer Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club, pianist Chucho Valdes and popular group Los Van Van live in Cuba and need U.S. visas to travel to Miami for the Sept. 3 show.

Officials in Cuba's Culture Ministry said this past week that they began the process of seeking approvals for the nominees to travel on Aug. 2.

But the State Department had not received any applications as of Thursday, consular affairs spokesman Stuart Patt said.

Since Cuba is classified by the U.S. government as a state sponsor of terrorism, more extensive background checks are required for visa applicants, which take about two months, Patt said.

Ferrer is nominated for Best Traditional Tropical Album; Los Van Van, with Juan Formell, are up for Best Contemporary Tropical Album; and Valdes is nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album.

------

DUNKIRK, N.Y. (AP) -- Fledgling rockers generally don't make much money, so when a good Samaritan found and returned $7,000 belonging to pop-punk band Eleventeen, he was smothered with thanks.

"They were hugging me, they couldn't believe it," said Frank Gawronski, who found the loose bills along a highway. "It was kind of a nice feeling. They were very appreciative."

The San Francisco-based band, traveling with the Vans Warped Tour 2003, had left their cash box on the roof of their car Thursday. They were staying at a Dunkirk hotel after a concert in Buffalo, about 60 miles east.

Instead of making spending plans, Gawronski handed the money to police.

"I had no idea where it came from. I just knew it was somebody's money," the retired teacher said Friday.

Gawronski was at the police station when the musicians, who had reported the lost money, arrived to retrieve it.

The band offered Gawronski a reward, but he turned it down. He did accept a copy of the band's CD, and a promise of concert tickets should they ever hit it big.

------

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Grammy-winning musician-producer-arranger Quincy Jones, who has boosted the careers of dozens of musicians, will help organize a "Legends of Los Angeles Pop" New Year's Eve concert to be held downtown.

The concert will include a range of music, City Councilwoman Jan Perry said in announcing Jones' involvement this past week. The city hopes 30,000 people will attend.

Large-scale New Year's Eve parties in the sprawling city have fizzled in the past, and Perry said officials are hoping to turn that around with the high-profile concert.

Tickets will cost $15, and some of the proceeds will go to Jones' foundation, which supports children's health care programs.

------

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Floyd Cramer and Carl Smith will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during the 37th annual CMA Awards later this year.

Cramer, who died in 1997, will be the first inducted into the new category of "Recording and-or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980." Smith will be inducted in the annual "Open" category.

Cramer popularized the "slip-note" technique on the piano, sliding up a note from the one beneath. His hits included "San Antonio Rose."

"I wish Floyd could be here to enjoy that, but I think somehow he'll know," said his widow, Mary Cramer.

Smith, 76, was a country hit-maker during the 1950s and '60s, known for his dynamic voice. His hit songs include "Are You Teasing Me," "Back Up Buddy" and "Loose Talk." He was married to June Carter Cash from 1952 to 1957 and is the father of country singer Carlene Carter.

The awards show will be broadcast by CBS on Nov. 5. Their selection was announced this past week by the Country Music Association. Inductees are chosen by more than 300 voters appointed by the CMA Board of Directors.

------

On the Net:

http://www.cmaworld.com/

http://www.halloffame.org/

------

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) -- Delta Burke has filmed a public service announcement urging people to help preserve Cypress Gardens, one of Florida's oldest theme parks, which closed in April after struggling financially.

Burke, a former Miss Florida, filmed the public service announcement for Friends of Cypress Gardens, a group trying to save the 67-year-old attraction. Burke, 47, is best known for her role on the "Designing Women" television show.

"She was born and raised in Orlando," Andy Howard, Burke's manager, said recently. "She has a great deal of affection for the area."

State officials are scheduled to meet Aug. 20 to hear presentations on possible state purchases. Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Cabinet will vote Aug. 26 on whether to buy the park.

Time-share owner David Siegel and Kent Buescher, owner of Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta, Ga., have expressed an interest, but the owners are waiting for the state's decision.

------

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Local radio stations will be allowed to play the music of the late composer Catalino "Tite" Curet Alonso, after being banned from airing it by a 1996 federal court order.

The songs of Curet, who died Tuesday of respiratory failure at age 77, can be played for one week while the island mourns his death, the Association of Composers and Editors of Latin American Music said Thursday.

The music has been banned from airplay since 1996, when the association, which collects royalties on Curet's music, and the Latin American Music Corp., which owns the rights, filed a lawsuit demanding that more than 30 stations pay royalties.

Curet wrote in many genres, including Latin musical styles such as samba, salsa and danza. He died Tuesday in a hospital in Baltimore, where he'd been visiting his daughter, Ilda.