People talk 10B

Police videotape of Ross' arrest released

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A police videotape shows singer Diana Ross walking around and leaning on a police cruiser while two officers talk to her, but it doesn't have audio of the singer's comments.

The 42-minute videotape, released Friday, was shot when Ross was arrested for drunken driving Dec. 30. She has pleaded innocent to the charge.

The grainy color video does not include footage of Ross, 58, dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt, taking a field sobriety test.

A police report said Ross consented to the test but fell down and laughed while trying to stand on one leg and count to 10. In another test, the report said, she skipped a couple of letters and doubled others while writing the alphabet.

Police have said Ross told them she got lost on her way to a video store. She was staying at a Tucson residence at the time.

Two arrested in blackmail scheme

LAS VEGAS -- A California woman and her husband have been arrested for allegedly trying to blackmail $13.5 million from singer Celine Dion's husband, Rene Angelil, who the woman says raped her.

Yun Kyeong Kwon Sung and Ae Hoe Kwon of Pasadena are charged with extortion and witness soliciting a bribe, both felonies, and conspiracy to commit extortion, a misdemeanor, police said.

Sung, 47, and Kwon, 50, filed a lawsuit and a police report last March alleging that Angelil raped Sung in March 2000 at the Imperial Palace hotel-casino.

Angelil denies the rape allegation.-- From wire reports

Dion, known for "My Heart Will Go On" from the film "Titanic," begins a three-year engagement in March at Caesars Palace.

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LOS ANGELES -- Emy Coligado, who plays Piama on Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle" and Emmy on NBC's "Crossing Jordan," took up knitting between takes and now she's so good that her handiwork is showing up in boutiques and -- where else? -- television.

"I started knitting scarves and wearing them," Coligado said in a news release. "Now the wardrobe department on 'Crossing Jordan' uses them, too."

About her TV roles, the Texas native said: "I think it's fun to be able to do two completely different characters. It keeps me busy and I love being busy."

Coligado also has returned to her musical roots, playing Luisa in a Los Angeles production of "The Fantasticks."

Still, success hasn't come easy to the Asian-American actress.

"I've been turned down many, many, many, many times," she said. "I've learned it's very important to stay positive, no matter what you're doing."

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LOS ANGELES -- Madonna will make her episodic TV series debut in May on NBC's "Will & Grace."

She's just one of the big names being called on by the sitcom to help juice up ratings during upcoming "sweeps" months, which are used to help set local advertising rates.

Demi Moore and Minnie Driver also will guest star on "Will & Grace," NBC said Friday. In February, Moore will play a former baby sitter to Jack (Sean Hayes) who meets up with him again.

In another February episode, Driver plays a woman who romances Karen's former husband and then really makes Karen (Megan Mullally) angry by befriending pal Jack.

Details of Madonna's appearance and specific episode dates weren't announced. The series airs 9 p.m. EST Thursday.

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DETROIT -- Techno pioneer Derrick May will lead a group chosen to produce this year's Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

May's group had been competing with Pop Culture Media, which has produced the festival since its inception in 2000. The Detroit organization had sought to renew its contract after it expired in May, despite questions about its finances.

May's team includes fellow pioneering techno deejays Kevin Saunderson and Carl Craig, who was the festival's original artistic director. Pop Culture Media fired Craig in the midst of the 2001 festival.

The contract with May's team will be for the 2003 festival only. It will be reviewed after the Memorial Day weekend event, the Detroit News reported Friday.

"We believe that this group has been the driving force behind techno music here and around the world," said Jamaine Dickens, a spokesman for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. "It only makes sense."

The city will provide organizers with Hart Plaza, where the free festival will be held, and police and cleanup services. But it will not subsidize the event, which officials say has lost money annually.

The 2002 festival lost about $356,000, despite crowds estimated at more than 1 million. The city spent $1.1 million on production and operations but took in just $710,000 from concessions, corporate sponsorships and other sources.

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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Universal Music has signed a deal with pop singer Gloria Estefan to administer the publishing of her music, the work of her producer-husband, Emilio, and the catalogs of their two independent labels.

Universal, one of the world's top music publishing companies, assumes publishing control of hits on albums by Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony, among others.

The Estefans' independent labels of Foreign Imported Productions & Publishing and Estefan Music Publishing Inc. will be consolidated under Universal Music Publishing Group, the company said Friday in a statement.

The FIPP and EMPI catalogs of more than 3,000 titles were previously administered by Sony-ATV Music, while Gloria Estefan was previously published through EMI Group.

Gloria Estefan is set to release her first English-language album in six years in the fall. Her hits include "Reach," "Coming Out of the Dark" and "Don't Wanna Lose You."

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Nets are trying their own version of the popular "American Idol" reality TV show, with comedian Joe Piscopo as host.

The grand-prize winner on "New Jersey Idol" will receive the use of a recording studio's time and facilities to record a demo cassette or CD; a session is valued at $5,000.

"We might be able to find the next Springsteen, the next Lauren Hill, the next Queen Latifah," said Piscopo, who appeared on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s.

Contest hopefuls, ages 18 to 34, will be asked to submit a vocal rendition of a song recorded a cappella.

The judges will pick four singers to perform at the halftime of eight Nets games, starting Jan. 29. Those games will serve as first-round elimination contests. Winners will be determined by the fans' applause. Each first-round winner will move on to the semifinals, with the finals scheduled for halftime of the April 4 game.

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LOS ANGELES -- Lesley Ann Warren is famous because of her acting, but dancing is all she ever wanted to do when she was little.

"From childhood I always wanted to be a ballet dancer," Warren told students at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. "My parents always supported and encouraged me to strive to reach my goals and make my dreams come true."

Warren, 56, was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a bleached-blonde gangster's moll in the 1982 Blake Edwards film "Victor/Victoria." She lost to Jessica Lange for her work in Sydney Pollack's "Tootsie."

"During shooting there were times when Blake Edwards would fall off his chair laughing. That was when I knew I got it right," Warren recalled. "I am very comfortable at improvising in a scene."

Warren studied "method" acting with Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio in New York. She was just 17 at the time, the school's youngest student ever.

-- From wire reports