People talk 1/16/04

First performers named for 46th Grammy show

NEW YORK -- Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and The White Stripes are among the first performers to be announced for the 46th annual Grammy Awards telecast. The Grammy Awards ceremony will air live Feb. 8 on CBS from the Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles. The show also will include a tribute to soul and funk featuring OutKast, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

NBC's departing shows get two-hour sendoffs

LOS ANGELES -- "Friends" and "Frasier" are both getting the long goodbye from NBC. The network said the two comedies will get two-hour sendoffs on back-to-back weeks during the May ratings sweeps. "Friends" will exit May 6. After a one-hour retrospective, the final episode will last another hour. Meanwhile, "Frasier" will have the same treatment a week later, said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC's entertainment, news and cable group.

Slimmer Clinton finds new diet successful

NEW YORK -- No more junk food for Bill Clinton -- at least not for now. The former president showed up at his Harlem office Wednesday looking lean, but not mean. With a wide grin on his face after a news conference to announce a new AIDS initiative, he deadpanned: "No beer." His dark business suit jacket swung open to reveal a flatter stomach, replacing the one-time presidential paunch. Clinton said he's been following "The South Beach Diet," and "working out with a German man." But he didn't divulge how many pounds he's lost.-- From wire reports

Reeve returns to advise Clark Kent

LOS ANGELES -- Christopher Reeve is coming back to "Smallville," and Clark Kent really needs his help. Reeve appeared on the WB series last season as Dr. Swann, a brilliant scientist who gave the show's teenage Clark (Tom Welling) insight into his future as Superman. In the April 14 episode, Swann warns Clark that Lionel Luthor (John Glover) is closing in on the secret of Clark's origins, the planet Krypton. The first episode featuring Reeve was one of the highest-rated for the series. The 51-year-old actor, who played Clark Kent and his superhero alter ego in four "Superman" movies, was paralyzed from the neck down in a 1995 horseback-riding accident. He has been prominent as an advocate for paralysis research and has voiced optimism he will walk again.

-- From wire reports

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia's Muslim opposition party has urged the government to cancel an upcoming concert by Mariah Carey, saying her performance is immoral and promotes un-Islamic values.

"Everyone knows Mariah Carey presents herself in a sexy, unacceptable and almost vulgar manner," Ahmad Sabki Yusof, a leader of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party's youth wing, said Thursday.

"She is not an appropriate role model for young Malaysians," he told The Associated Press.

Party officials gave a letter of protest to Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism officials Thursday urging that permission for the Feb. 22 concert at a 50,000-seat Kuala Lumpur stadium be withdrawn.

Ahmad Sabki pointed out that date of Carey's concert marks the start of the new year in the Muslim calendar, which is a religious holiday in Malaysia.

Deputy Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Fu Ah Kiow last week said Malaysian officials supported the staging of the pop star's show, but reiterated the government's policy that foreign performers should "dress accordingly" to avoid offending anyone.

Concert organizers had reportedly assured the ministry that the 33-year-old Carey, who's known for her clingy, revealing outfits, would comply with any dress regulations.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A judge says arrest warrants will be issued for comedian Jamie Foxx and his younger sister if they don't show up in court Friday to answer charges from a scuffle with police at a casino.

Criminal District Judge Frank Marullo told attorneys for Foxx and Deidra Dixon on Wednesday that there's no provision in Louisiana law for them to be arraigned outside New Orleans or for arraignment by video.

Foxx, 36, and his sister are charged with two counts each of battery on a police officer causing injury, a felony, and one count of disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor.

Dixon also is charged with resisting an officer, another misdemeanor.

The charges come from a fight with police officers and security guards at Harrah's New Orleans Casino on April 26. Police said Foxx, Dixon and a group of their friends refused to show identification at the door, then went into the casino and refused requests to leave.

Authorities said that when police tried to handcuff Dixon, she struggled, freed one of her hands and began swinging the handcuffs still attached to the other hand, hitting a police officer in the face.

Marullo said he'll rule Friday on a defense request to toss out the felony charges against Foxx and his sister.

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Grammy-winning dancehall rapper Beenie Man was in serious condition after an early morning car accident Thursday, a record executive said.

The 30-year-old suffered injuries including broken ribs and a broken nose when his Hummer flipped over after running off a Kingston highway, said Clyde McKenzie, an executive of Shocking Vibes Productions, which produces some of Beenie Man's music.

The rapper, whose real name is Anthony Moses Davis, was driving alone at the time, McKenzie said.

It was unclear what caused the accident or whether he was wearing a seat belt. Police couldn't immediately provide information, saying they were still investigating.

Beenie Man has been one of the biggest names in dancehall for nearly a decade. In 1998, he broke into U.S. charts with hit single "Who Am I" and accompanying album "Many Moods of Moses," which became a minor hit in the United States.

In 1999, Beenie Man signed with Virgin Records. "Art and Life," his first album for the company, won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2001. His last album, "Tropical Storm," was released by Virgin in late 2002.

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LONDON (AP) -- Jude Law says he's emerged stronger and happier from his bruising breakup with Sadie Frost.

Law, who stars with Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger in the film "Cold Mountain," said Wednesday that events such as a divorce "take a lot longer to heal and repair and to put back into order.

"It changes your life, I think, when you enter into a marriage and it can change it just as much as when you're part of a breakup," Law, 31, told Britain's ITV television network.

"But I certainly feel stronger emotionally and happier in myself, if not a little battered and bruised."

Law and Frost, who were divorced in October, were married in 1997 and have three children.

Frost, 35, had sought the divorce on grounds of his unreasonable behavior. In court documents, she said Law's behavior after the birth of their third child, Rudy, "increased the effect of postnatal depression leading me to have to take treatment three times."

Law, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," is reported to be dating 21-year-old actress Sienna Miller, his co-star in a forthcoming remake of '60s British movie "Alfie."

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. will join Los Angeles' black and Hispanic community leaders for a march on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that's geared toward fighting gangs.

The planned "100,000 Man March," which isn't connected with the "Million Man March" on Washington, serves as the official launch of the Passage to Peace Project, an education and outreach effort intended to stop gang violence in Los Angeles.

Gossett, 67, said he hopes the march and its subsequent education and outreach project will spur film studios to provide better depictions of blacks in American history.

"My pursuit is equality in the movies," said Gossett, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman." "The stories Hollywood tells are not (always) true, so I want truth in the movies."

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Toby Keith appreciated being able to dress casually for the news conference held to announce he'd been named Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Today magazine.

"Thank you for letting me be so comfortable here," the country music star said Tuesday, wearing jeans with holes in the knees. "I'm a comfortable kind of guy."

His patriotic song, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," became a rallying cry for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I get accused of beating war drums or whatever," the 42-year-old singer said. "I'm against war like everybody else, but to me, when we're already over there, it looks real un-American to be against the war once it has already started."

Keith lives on a ranch near Norman and commonly attends Oklahoma Sooners football games.

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On the Net:

http://www.oklahomatoday.com/default.html

http://www.tobykeith.com/

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On the Net:

http://www.grammy.com

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Aerosmith will be making a return visit to the Super Bowl.

The headliners of the 2001 Super Bowl halftime show in Tampa, Fla., will perform in the finale of this year's pre-game show at Reliant Stadium in Houston, it was announced this week.

"The Super Bowl is rock and roll! It's slammin', it's precision, it's passion and pure energy," Aerosmith's Steven Tyler said in a statement.

The Super Bowl will air live on CBS on Feb. 1.

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On the Net:

http://www.superbowl.com/

http://www.aerosmith.com/detect.html

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