Celebrity Scoop
Willie Nelson's tunes are about to hit a much wider audience. The country music legend is among the artists who have been asked to perform at this year's Nobel Peace Prize Concert Dec. 11 in Oslo, Norway. Nelson's down home musings are bound to be especially appreciated by one of the concert's honorees, Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter of Plains, Ga., one of the most down home guys ever to occupy the White House.
The concert will be aired in 100 countries and is expected to be watched in over 450 million homes. Nelson's most recent CD is "Willie Nelson & Friends: Stars & Guitars," which includes performances by Sheryl Crow, Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Keith Richards, Jon Bon Jovi, Lee Ann Womack, Norah Jones, Brian McKnight, Matchbox 20 and Vince Gill.
Another former duet partner of Gill's is receiving a major honor today. Kermit the Frog, who sang with Gill on the album "Kermit Unpigged," is getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The show biz veteran and star of numerous movies, if allowed to speak frankly, might say it's about time. The pop-eyed amphibian has been working on television since the mid-1950s, starting out on a local show in Washington, D.C., for which he won an Emmy, moving on to the Tonight Show with Steve Allen, and finally getting his big break in 1969 when he and his fellow Muppets joined the cast of Sesame Street.
Warner Brothers is on the trail of whoever is behind illegal copies of the "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." The pirated footage, which has turned up on the Internet, is believed to be the work of someone who snuck a camcorder into the premiere in London or in New York and recorded a version of the film from inside the theater.
Dating can be scary, but the producers of the new reality show "Star Dates" are hoping the sweaty palms and pounding hearts of the dating game will add up to ratings and profits. The gimmick: ordinary folks will go on blind dates with TV stars and celebrities, with cameras following their every move, of course. Celebs signed up so far include: Jill Whelan of "Love Boat" fame; Dustin Diamond, best known as Screech from "Saved By the Bell;" Gary Coleman of "Diff'rent Strokes;" Kim Fields from "The Facts of Life;" and comedienne Phyllis Diller. The show debuts on E! next month.
Sharon Stone's done it, and so has Kim Basinger, so how about you? The Gap is conducting a nationwide search for men, women, boys, girls and babies to appear in a Gap print ad next year. You don't have to be a model but it helps to be cool - the company says it wants "real people who personify the Gap brand - intriguing people with personal style." Guts help, too - semifinalists' photos will be plastered in store windows for the general public to vote on. Entries can be submitted through Gap.com or at any of the clothing giant's stores.
Two guys who know how to write songs and how to get paid for it are ready to share a few secrets. Desmond Child, who wrote and produced hits including Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," and Andreas Carlson, who wrote the N'Sync hit "Bye, Bye, Bye," are holding a Master Class in Songwriting next week in Coral Gables, Fla. The seminar at the University of Miami's School of Music is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and aspiring tunesmiths are advised to call the school in advance.
It's been 32 years since the death of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix and his family and the musicians who rocked with him are gearing up to mark what would have been his 60th birthday. He was born on Nov. 27, but the birthday celebration will be in Seattle on Nov. 24, with performers including Sheldon Reynolds and Larry Dunn, both formerly of Earth, Wind & Fire; Bobby Watson, who played with Rufus and Chaka Khan; and Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, the drummer and bassist from Band of Gypsys, Hendrix's last group. "The thing about Jimi and his music is that while the rest of us get older he will always be young," says Cox. "If Jimi were around today he'd probably be scratching his head at the music of today but he would still be jamming. We'd be the world's oldest rappers."