People talk 8/6/03

Fans can't always get what they want in Spain

MADRID, Spain -- The Rolling Stones suspended a concert in the Spanish tourist resort town of Benidorm after 60-year-old lead singer Mick Jagger fell ill with laryngitis, organizers said Tuesday.

The concert set for later in the day was part of the Stones' "Forty Licks" tour and had been expected to attract some 30,000 spectators at the Foeits Sports Stadium.

Spain's private news agency Europa Press said the concert would be rescheduled for Sept. 19. It wasn't immediately possible to confirm the date with organizers.

King will write monthly column for magazine

BANGOR, Maine -- When he was in college at the University of Maine in the 1960s, best-selling author Stephen King had a column, "King's Garbage Truck," that ran in the student newspaper.

Now the Bangor novelist has a column again, this time in Entertainment Weekly magazine. It marks the first time King has written a regularly scheduled column since his university days.

His monthly piece, called "The Pop of King," debuts in the Aug. 8 issue. In it, he gives his opinions on books, movies, television, music and more.

In the introduction to his first column, the 55-year-old explains that he wrote a review of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" for the magazine a few months ago. The editors came back to him, he says, because they either liked the review or the fact that it was written in longhand.

"For all I know, they might have thought it would be good to have at least one writer on tap who could turn in copy even after a nuclear pulse wiped out the hard drives on all the laptops," King writes.

Queer eye for "The Tonight Show" host

NEW YORK -- "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" is turning its gaze toward Jay Leno.

The host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" will undergo a makeover at the hands of the "Fab 5" -- the five gay stylists who give a straight man a new look each week on the hit reality show.

They're scheduled to appear on Leno's late-night talk show Aug. 14 -- the same night NBC will re-air the second installment of the Bravo series. Then they'll come back the next night to show off the results of their work.-- From wire reports

The trade paper Variety reported Tuesday that Leno's set also will get a new look. The New York-based cast is expected to travel to Los Angeles next week to begin shopping for furniture and other fashionable goodies.

Festival will honor Matriarch of the Blues

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Etta James won't have to travel far from home to pick up her latest award.

The 65-year-old singer, nicknamed Matriarch of the Blues, will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival.

James will accept the award in September in Temecula. She's lived in nearby Riverside for the past 10 years.

Festival organizer Jo Moulton said James was chosen because in part because she overcame personal setbacks during her musical career, including a drug addiction.

"She's a legend in jazz and everything," Moulton said.

James this year was awarded her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and lifetime achievement honors from the Grammy organization. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, the singer was discovered in San Francisco in 1954 by bandleader Johnny Otis. She's best known for her 1960 version of "At Last," and is considered an influence on such singers as Diana Ross, Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt.

Others to be honored at the Temecula Valley festival include actress Diane Ladd and director Penelope Spheeris.

Diaz wins ruling to keep modeling photos private

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- A judge ordered that photographs of Cameron Diaz taken at a private modeling session about a decade ago, before she was a star, should be sealed.

Judge Alan Haber ordered the photos and a videotape sealed Monday, saying Diaz has a right to privacy of her own body. He set a Sept. 12 hearing in Superior Court on her request for an injunction against photographer John Rutter.

Diaz, who co-starred in the two "Charlie's Angels" movies, wasn't present at the hearing. Afterward, lawyers for the 30-year-old actress and Rutter wouldn't discuss the contents of the videotape.

Diaz didn't sign a photo release, and a release produced by Rutter is a forgery, her publicist, Brad Cafarelli, said last month.

No criminal charge has been filed against Rutter.

Rutter's lawyer, Michael H. Weiss, declined comment Monday. Diaz's lawyer, Paul Berra, didn't return a phone call for comment.

The photographer told the syndicated news program "Inside Edition" in mid-July that he'd contacted Diaz's lawyers to offer them the photos before he sold them to any media outlets.

"This was a negotiation for a right of first refusal with Cameron Diaz's lawyers," Rutter said. "A few hours after her lawyers offered to buy the photos my place was raided."

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed that Rutter's apartment had been searched. The warrant was issued in an investigation "involving an incident where Cameron Diaz is the alleged victim," said spokeswoman Jane Robison.

Oprah expands magazine with home-design supplement

NEW YORK -- She has advised millions of loyal fans on what to read, how to manage relationships and how to lose weight. Next, Oprah Winfrey will be serving up advice on furniture and bedspreads.

Encouraged by the popularity of a previous issue devoted to home decorating, O, The Oprah Magazine will publish a 48-page home-design supplement next month, magazine spokeswoman Elizabeth Dye said Monday. The story first was reported in The New York Times.

O at Home will be bundled with the October issue and mailed to the magazine's 1.6 million subscribers, Dye said. She said the magazine also planned to do two more such supplements next year.

Dye said the supplement was an extension of home-related articles that O, The Oprah Magazine had been publishing in a section called Comfort Zone. She said an issue in December with a home design theme had sold a hefty 850,000 copies on newsstands.

O, The Oprah Magazine is co-owned by Winfrey and Hearst Corp., a major publisher of women's magazines including Cosmopolitan.

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On the Net:

http://www.oprah.com

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NEW DELHI (AP) -- India's highest court rejected a petition by author Barbara Taylor Bradford to halt an Indian TV series she said plagiarized her novel "A Woman of Substance."

On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed Bradford's appeal against last month's order by the High Court in Calcutta, which allowed the broadcasting of the 260-episode series, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

However, the Supreme Court rescinded the High Court's order that Bradford pay damages of $3,260 to Sahara Media Entertainment for each week of delay her court challenge caused the producer in the airing of the series.

Bradford came to India in May to get the program "Karishma: Miracle of Destiny" blocked from the air a few days before it was to be broadcast.

The Supreme Court had issued an injunction on the broadcast until further arguments in the case could be heard, but Sahara appealed.

The Calcutta High Court judges read Taylor's book and watched the series before ruling on the dispute last month.

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On the Net:

http://www.barbarataylorbradford.com/

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HONG KONG (AP) -- Ricky Martin has vowed to keep singing until his last breath.

"I love what I do. I don't know how to do anything else. I want to die on stage," Martin said at a news conference Sunday to promote his latest album, "Almas del Silencio."

Dressed in a striped shirt unbuttoned to reveal a jade Buddha pendant, the 31-year-old singer said he was particularly glad to be touring the region -- with stops in Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok -- because it lets him try to touch people's hearts after the recent SARS outbreak.

Martin said he wanted people to "enjoy life as it comes," despite "this pain that we all went through, not only the people here in Hong Kong, or the people in some parts of Asia. The entire planet suffered this."

"We know about today. We don't know about tomorrow. So just let's embrace each other with love and peace and freedom and let's just be," he said.

Martin also talked about his new charity project: helping crack down on child pornography and child prostitution.

"It's a very, very difficult task. But it's part of my mission in life," he said. "I'll do anything I can to protect the children that are being violated in many ways."

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On the Net:

http://www.rickymartin.com/

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Willie Nelson, Ray Benson and Michelle Shocked are among the artists behind "Don't Mess With Texas Music," a public awareness campaign to help music programs survive in schools amid budget cuts.

The campaign, being launched by the Texas Music Project, is similar to VH1's national "Save the Music" drive.

Nelson is honorary chairman of the Texas Music Project. Benson, leader of the band Asleep at the Wheel, and Shocked, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, are on the advisory board.

"Everyone supporting the project is doing it because they love music, and because they understand music education helps kids reach their full potential, regardless of what they grow up to be," Nelson said in a recent statement.

"Don't Mess With Texas Music" also is the name of an upcoming benefit CD with songs by 21 artists with state ties. Other musicians joining the effort are Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lucinda Williams and Erykah Badu.

The $15 CD will be released next month. Proceeds will fund grants for music programs in schools.

The Texas Music Project rose out of concern that many school districts facing budget crunches are starting to cut back on music programs, said executive director Bruce Orr.