Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 42

Page 2 STYLE NORTHWEST HERALD Wednesday. December 27, 2000 universal univep- Ice-T preparing new album with guests like Eminem Tune In Tonight Friends and celebrities, including Glenn Close, Morgan Freeman, Little Richard, Nathan Lane, Don i Rickles and Donald Sutherland jte dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sqk pioneer Chuck Berry, tenor acido Domingo, actordirector Clint Eastwood and actress Angela Lansbury at the "Kennedy Center moors" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-G), hosted by Walter STIH 7 si ioned religion. "They are about God's love. That's what we get together to celebrate, people from every religion, from studio executives to gang members. We're in our second year, with a band of eight, fantastic singers Each 1 time we get 300-400 people a lot of single people, married people and a lot of kids.

There are a lot of people out there looking for answers." As far as Dyan's looking for marriage, she makes it been there, done that." And at this point at least, the woman who married Cary Grant when she was 25 and he was 60, and ended her merger to real estate broker Stan Fimberg in '91 feels the single life is the perfect life. THE INSIDE TRACK Fans of symphonic rock have the first Electric Light Orchestra album in 15 years, "Zoom," to look forwaf to come April, with guest artists including George Harrison and Ringo Starr. ELO songwriter-guitarist Jeff Lynne says he wasn't intimidated by the prospect of living up to his band's past glories. To the contrary, in fact. "I think the long distance gap of 15 years gave me a very good perspective of what I did earlier.

I've learned a lot during that gap," says Lynne, who has spent much of the interim period producing for the likes of Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. "After working with my heroes, I had a lot of good ideas I couldn't wait to use." Lynne expects to hit the rehearsal studio come January -to prep for a large-scale ELO tour likely to kick off in spring. "We have to relcarn some of the old songs and learn how to play all these new ones," says the musician. ELO's multimillion selling catalogue of 1974-81 hits just hit stores in the three-CD box set "Flashback." THE VIDEOLAND VIEW Superproducer John WeDs "The West Wing" is doing a telefilm for TNT called "The Big Tune." It deals with young people who gamble their futures on a new technology others can barely imagine television broadcasting. The yean 1948.

Carol Flynt wrote and exec produces with Wells. Marilyn Beck contributes regularly to Entertainment Televisions "Gossip Show." To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. Photo provided The Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill were the only hopeful signs for Nashville this year in country music. Music genre loses ground in 2000 Awards Sales of country music albums were down nearly 2 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to SoundScan. Early reports for the fourth quarter, which includes the Christmas shopping season, indicate an off year for all music sales.

That could mean about a 10 percent drop in country music sales in 2000. At its peak in 1993, country music accounted for nearly 19 percent of music sales. That figure likely will be down to 8 percent in 2000. The slide comes during an artistic renaissance of sorts for the genre, In 2000, major labels released albums that ranged from respectable to tremendous, including those by Jackson, Allisqn Moorer, Craig Morgan, Chris Cagle, Johnny Cash, The Warren Brothers, Asleep at the Wheel, Tyler England, Trisha Yearwood and Lee Ann Womack. Ricky Skaggs' return to blue-grass has reignited his career, and the influence of the raw "alternative country" scene continues to seep into the mainstream.

But the record companies embarrassed themselves by releasing albums by several young women resembling superstar Shania Twain, who took the year oft Nashville labels are cultivating several boy-band acts designed to take advantage of the Backstreet Boys trend way too late. Billy Gilman, a child novelty act, was one of Nashville's few success stories. Many blame radio. Industry deregulation has led to large companies owning many stations. eteran rapper Ice-T reports he's heading I into the studio come January to work on an album with such rap stars as Dr.

Dre, Snoop Dogg and Eminem. The rapper-cum-actor is based in New York, where his "Law Order Special Victims Unit" series shoots. He says he's also interested in working with a lot of the New York rappers Son, who's like a legend in hip-hop, and some of the new cats, Prodigy from Mobb Deep, Guru, GangStar." He says getting rap Marilyn Beck Stacy Jenel Smith hollywood exclusive pers to guest on his albums has never been a problem. "It ain't like I gotta call them twice. I never had to pay nobody to be on a record with me," he says.

"That's love. I don't charge my friends either. If somebody calls me up (to guest on their record) I ain't askin' for no paper. Now if I don't like you, I might say some crazy number like $50,000 just so I don't have to do it." He plans to call the new disc "The Eighth Wonder The Ice Age." "It's my eighth album, so I gotta come hard. I really gotta have myself up to par cause when you put a lot of people on your record you don't want people to say that they're carrying your record.

But then, getting in the ring with some young rappers that got that new heat brings you up to speed, too." The rapper recently released his "Greatest Hits: The Evidence" CD, which is available on his Web site: mcicet.com. ON THE PERSONAL SIDE Dyan Camion reveals she hasn't dated in the last five years, and has no desire or time to. For the actress who's in her early 60s and looks like she's barely 40 -there's production for NBC's Jan. 9-debuting "Three Sisters" series, in which she plays the mother, who "rollerblades, trampolines -who is unlike any mother you've ever seen on TV." There's also her -God Parties with Dyan Cannon and You which she stages every other Saturday night on the CBS lot in the San Fernando Valley. The get-togethers, she stresses, don't provide a dose of old-fash- Ten episodes make 'Best of Friends' By MART1E ZAD The Washington Post ecause you can never Xj) have too many friends, Warner Home Video is wJ bringing six of America's best-known friends to your home video shelf.

Ten episodes of the hit television show "Friends" have just been released, the first time this Emmy-winning series has been available on VHS or DVD. Since its debut in 1994, "Friends" has been the cornerstone of NBC's popular Thursday-night lineup. Each reel or disc has five episodes of the series that features Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), Courteney Cox Arquette (Monica), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), David Schwimmer (Ross), Matthew Perry (Chandler) and Matt LeBlanc (Joey). Volume one consists of "The Pilot," "The One With Two Parts," "The One With All the Poker," "The One Where Ross Finds Out" and "The One With the Prom Video." Volume two contains "The One Where No One's Ready," "The One With Embryos," "The One With Ross' Wedding" (two parts), 'iThe One With All the Thanksgivings" and "The One Where Everybody Finds Out." The two-volume VHS set lists at $24.98 ($14.95 each) and the DVD set is $34.98 ($19.98 1 each). i i Cronkrte.

Seven scientists dis- iCss the spiritual dimension of their work on the documentary, "Me Isaac Newton" (7 p.m., oldexpres- Kevin columnist sgn out of moth balls, many of the observations presented here are literally krrifnd-blowing." Theoretical theorist Michio Kaku considers himself the heir to Einstein's search for a unified theory. He's the co-founder of "string theory that he explains here. "Little vibrating strings are at the core of electrons, protons and neurons." I Jget it. Kaku is unabashed in his search for ultimate truths. "I believe in the cosmic order, and my goal in life is to find a unified theory of everything that would allow us to read the mind of God." She's barely out of her twenties, but Camie Wilson has experienced more ups, downs, celebrity and dysfunction than most mere mortals endure in a lifetime.

That's why the 31 -year-old singer gets her own "Celebrity Profile" (9 p.m., El, TV-PG). It must be hard being the daughter of Brian Wilson, the agoraphobic rock and roll genius who spent more than a decade locked in his bedroom after his life as a Bach Boy stopped being "fun, fun, fun." Living with Dad's weirdness is one explanation for Camie's lifelong battle with her REPEAT SERIES DEBUTS AND y. SEASON OPENERS An insecure diva frets when she worries that she is no longer attractive to her husband on "Bene" (7 p.m., CBS, TV-PG, L). A happy-go-lucky lawyer jejums to his hometown after his "Manhattan job and marriage fizzle (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG). A 33Md Letterman production.

An affable weatherman moves and discovers that the IWbve are mean-spirited, neurotic I snobs on "Welcome to New York (7:30 p.m., CBS, TV-G). A David Letterman production. "i As staff members reel from the attempt on the President's life, they flash back to the early days of his long-shot campaign for the White i. House on an outstanding episode of "The West Wing" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14). The first of a two part story.

On the verge of proposing to Kate, Drew loses his job on "The Drew Carey Show" (8 p.m., ABC, OTHER HIGHLIGHTS Sean Connery provides the voice of the dragon in the 1 996 fan- tasy, "Dragonheart" (7 p.m., Fox, TV-PG, V). A wire-tapper (Gene Hackman) discovers that he's become ensnared in a murder-conspiracy in the 1974 drama, "The Conversation" (7 p.m., AMC, TV-J PG, V). Paul Newman stars as a wom- anizing private eye in the 1966 mys- lery, narper 1 p.m., mmer Classic Movies). 5 Snooty homicide suspects stonewall Briscoe and Greene on a i repeat of law Order" (10 p.m., 5 NBC, TV-14). 'The son of a terminal patient wants to pull the plug on a repeat of "Gideon's Crossing" (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG, L).

CULT CHOICE An angry teen (Hilary Swank, "Boys Don't lashes out at her parents in the 1 996 TV drama, I "Terror in the Family" (8 p.m., USX TV-14). 1 SERIES NOTES All are repeats Regis Philbin I hosts "Who Wants to Be a Mflllonalre" (7 p.m., ABC, Back to Bosnia on "Seven Days" UPN, TV-PG) Grade woes for Pacey on "Dawson's Creek" (7 p.m., WB, TV-PG, L). i A risky race on "Star Trek: Voyager" (8 p.m, UPN, TV-PG) On back-to-back episodes of "Grosse Points" (WB), Johnny plates a contestant winner (8 p.m., TV-PG, L), and Hunter and Courtney compete for Hunter's ex (830 p.m., TV-14, L). Charlie begs the mayor to find a new dentist on "Spin City" (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG, D.L). LATE NIGHT All are new Uma Thurman and Snoop Dogg are on "Late Show With David Letterman" (10:35 p.m., CBS) Fisher is one of Jay Leno's guests on "The tjjpnlght Show" (10:35 p.m., NBC).

1- Many programmers play bland love songs meant to appeal to women over 35, a reliable audience that keeps ratings steady, while ignoring other fans who may be more likely to buy CDs. Jackson lampooned the situation on his new album, "When Somebody Loves You," with the track "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Uptempo Love Song." "Everybody wants positive stuff, they don't want no cheating or drinking things," Jackson said. "You can't say this, you can't say that And it can't be too country. If it is, you can't get it played." Hendricks said it's the "unsafe" songs that generate enthusiasm. "When you go against the grain, you can get the big score.

Look at Le Ann Rimes. 'Blue was a song that radio never' embraced totally, but it was the song that broke LeAnn Rimes." Deena Carter's "Strawberry Wine" and Tim McGraw's "Indian Outlaw" were unique songs that generated sales and made stars of the artists, he said. Hendricks is trying to persuade stations to devote more shows to new records. He'd also like singles to have a shorter life so that more would have the opportunity for airplay. Some radio stations play only 11 songs an hour, down from 14 a few years ago.

"Also, the life span of each single has gotten a lot longer," Hendricks said. "Not that many years ago, it was a 12-week cycle. Now, we're at 26-plus weeks. It means a lot less room for other records to be hits." "I would say it definitely contributed" to saving the show, said Turell He added: "If the show wasn't a good show no matter how much Tabasco we received we wouldn't have picked it up. All those things were in place.

Then add to that a passionate fan base." Gomez considers the fans and their dedication "an asset" According to Gomez, the Tabasco campaign was launched from the Crashdown site (www.crashdown.com) dedicated to "Roswell" and named after a cafe the characters frequent on the show. There are approximately 16,000 registered viewers of the Crashdown fan site, according to one of its co-founders, Kenn Gold. "WeVe been aware of the Crashdown site. It's a very popular site," Gomez said. "Web sites are very important It's the age of the Internet" "I think people wanting to create their own fan sites is a very encouraging sign for any show" said TurelL By JIM PATTERSON The Associated Press ales continued to flag, Garth Brooks announced his retirement and The Nashville Network removed "Nashville" from its name during 2000, a desultory year for the country music industry.

Platinum sales for the Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill were hope-' ful signs for Nashville, which has "seen its 'market share drop steadi- ly for five years after explosive growth in the early 1990s. At the start of a new year, country music executives face a variety of problems, including a continuing inability to mold many new stars. Even the acts that sell well aren't selling as much. Alan Jackson's 1998 album, "High Mileage," has sold about 1 million copies. His 1 992 album, "A Lot About Livin' (and a Little 'Bout Love)," has sold six times that.

"My little girls are real young, but they love those little pop things going on now like 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys," Jackson said. "Back when (Jackson's hit) 'Chattahoochee' was out, I had young kids who were jumping all over that country thing." One new star is Brad Paisley. "Brad Paisley is winning awards, and he's sold 500,000 or 600,000 records? I'm happy for him," said Scott Hendricks, who runs Virgin Records' Nashville office. "But we're used to bigger, better numbers. For all the expo-.

sure he's gotten, he should have sold more," 'Roswell' By TRACY SCOTT The Washington Post he WB TV series "RoswelTwasonthe verge of extinction, but thanks to the Internet and a few thousand bottles of Tabasco sauce, the show and its fans are enjoying another television season. The science-fiction drama, centered on teens descended from aliens who landed near the New Mexico town in 1947, premiered in 1999. When it came up for renewal, the show was "on the proverbial fence," according to Brad Turell, executive vice-president of network communications. "It was in question whether it would come back or not" For fans of the show, leaving that question up to network executives was not an option. "Over 3,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce were sent from all over the country," said WB publicist Suzanne Gomez.

"The fans wanted to make sure the show was picked up for the Saved by Tabasco sauce I owl antl l.rty Showtime Information WWW.re3alcincmas.c0m or call 81S-4S3-100S Showpiece 16 Crystal toke il 1 1 ii' Lbiiii visit our webtif at www.kerasotM.com Dmly ShouUnm Mist Congeniality (PQ-13) 2:00) 4:40 7:20 10:00 digital What Women Want (PG-13) 1:00 4:10 7:10 10:10 digital Dracula2000(R) 12:10 2:401 5:10 7:40 10:15 digital ThsGrlnch(PG) 12:151 4:50 7:30 10:05 digital Dude Where's My Car (PG-13) di9ital 12:50 3:00 5:30 8:00 1025 digital Emperor's New Groove (G) 12:00 2:10 420 6:45 8:50 digital Castaway (PG-13) 11:50 3:10 6:30 9:50 12:30 3:40 7:00 1020 digital 102 0almatlons(G) 12:45 3:15 5:40 digital Unbreakable (PG-13) 8:10 10:40 digital Vertical UmH (PG-13) 1:30 4:30 7:50 10:35 digital The Family Man (PG-13) 12:40 3:50 6:50 9:40 digital AH the Pretty Horses (PG-13) 1:10 4:00 6:40 9:30 digital OcSw relays are the perf oct day to catch up With tat St kn "Over 3,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce were sent from all over the country. The fans wanted to make sure the show was picked up for the next season." Suzanne Gomez WB publicist next season." Viewers who tracked the show via the Internet spread the word and organized a mass mailing of Tabasco, the aliens' sauce of choice to WB co-presidents Jordan Levin and Susanne Daniels and to CEO Jamie Kellner. "I still have some (Tabasco sauce); I have tons," said Turell Much of the sauce, however, was sent to the media. The condiment apparently spiced things up for Warner Bros, executives..