The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • 19

A NEW STAR rsf. -f -r-s, I 6- 4 1 i FROM KENTUCKY? Friday, March 7, 2003 4 Ann Landers ff Comics If TV listings C4 C4.C5 C2 I 1 A 1 it Stephanie I I fv -'X I Check to the fx Brandi Gibson hopes so. She will compete for a recording contract on USA's new "Nashville Star" reality series. C2 Editor: Greg Johnson Phone: 582-4667 Fax: 582-4665 www.courier-journal.com The Buzz NEWS NONSENSEDAVID WALTON 1 'ft Malcolm Wall Wall of Oklahoma to replace Fox at KET I Businessman finds success exporting ethnic television to Europe, Africa Bill Clinton and Bob Dole The Bill and Bob Show Former Democratic prez Bill Clinton and former Republican senator Bob Dole will have more than a few words with one another on the CBS newsmag "60 Minutes." The political bigwigs have agreed to square off in 10 debate segments on major domestic and international issues beginning Sunday. The segments will be called "ClintonDole" and "DoleClinton" in alternating weeks.

The retired politicians taped their first segment last Friday, declining to identify the topic. Asked who won, Clinton, 56, said, "He did." "I got a said Dole, 79, the former Senate majority leader. "He got a B-minus." Clinton said their wives Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, were "both terrified" about what they might say.

"They should be," Dole added. Coldplay live, after all It's all "Yellow" and it's all good. Coldplay fans shut out of Monday's sold-out concert at the Louisville Palace still can hear the show. WFPK (91.9-FM) will broadcast the concert live starting around 9 p.m. and then rerun it after the snow.

(WFPK is next door to the Palace, so the broadcast simply requires running a few cables.) "It's an important event for us because Coldplay is a real crossover artist," said Dan Reed, WFPK's program director. "I'm psyched. Hopefully, we'll get some new listeners out of this. It's the biggest marketing opportunity we've ever had." Opening act The Music will not be broadcast, and there will be a brief intermission at one point as Coldplay performs two new songs it doesn't wish broadcast. (For more on Coldplay, see today's Zone page.) Jeffrey Lee Pucfeett, The Courier-Journal There is a cultural revolution going on across Europe, and it is being fueled from a most unlikely place: Kentucky.

More specifically, it is coming from Louisville and the mind of Mike Markwell, a man who is So much that they are willing to take a chance on just about anything, from a low-budget music video show taped in Louisville to a children's show starring comic Spike Davis, who has toned down his nightclub act to work with the kiddies. The man responsible for building the bridge between Kentucky and the old country is Markwell, a 45-year-old veteran of local radio and TV who has found a calling distributing homegrown shows across the Atlantic. "Believe me, this is a dream," Markwell said. "I have always been a television junkie." Beginning in mid-February, viewers in Europe and North Africa have been able to PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MIKE COVINGTON, THE C-J across Europe," Cunningham said from London. "I am white, but I enjoy basketball and soul music.

Does that make me black? No. But it means that the roots of the things I enjoy are in black things." MBE24-7 is part of a package of channels available to satellite See LOUISVILLE Page 4, col. 1, this section international entertainment mogul without reauy trying. Next to Rupert Murdoch or Robert Johnson, he has a long to the broader audience as well, said John Cunningham, director ofMBE24-7, as it is known. Cunningham said white consumers in Britain and the whole of Europe are just as interested in different cultures as American whites, but the offerings have been rather slim.

"There has always been a need for fair representation of cultures By TOM D0RSEY The Courier-Journal KET has lost no time in naming a replacement for Virginia Fox, its executive director who retired in December. Malcolm "Mac" Wall, 56, executive director of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, was named CEO yesterday of Lexington-based KET, the largest PBS network in the country. He will take over the top job June 1. Fox, who worked at KET for 26 years, had been executive director and CEO since 1991. Wall has 33 years in public television under his belt.

He has been with the Oklahoma network since 1995 and its director for the past four years. It ranks among the top five PBS markets in the nation, with 1.8 million viewers weekly. The Mississippi native, a 1970 graduate of Mississippi State University, has also worked at public stations in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Mississippi. In addition, Wall was director of network programming for the Southern Educational Communications Association, a regional public-TV organization based in Columbia, S.C. "Mac has a rare combination of traits," said KET Authority Chairman John Domaschko, who said Wall has "a level of enthusiasm and energy for his craft that one might see in someone new to the field." Wall's appointment at KET concluded a nationwide search.

"He has a deep appreciation for the quality and KET's people and programs," Domaschko said. "He knows KET distinguishes itself by its laser-like focus on its mission. The legacy of Len Press (KET's first executive director) and Ginni Fox is in good hands." Wall said he was honored to be asked to take the job as KET enters the new era of digital broadcasting. "KET's leadership has been legendary over its near 35-year history," ne said. KET launched four digital channels last fall and recently added HDTV to its services.

It also distributes more than 200 educational TV programs to more than 1,700 schools and institutions. KET also airs for-credit TV courses in cooperation with 25 colleges and universities and is the nation's leader in providing GED instruction. THOMAS Xp rnun wai awhile. "There is an POP CULTURE untapped market out there," Markwell said. "Business people are always the last people to figure that out." The revolution that Markwell is stoking is Europe's growing demand for ethnic and urban (read: African-American) culture, particularly television programming.

While Americans have grown accustomed to the crossover appeal of hip-hop music, fashion and attitudes, Europeans are still getting their first taste of it. And they like it. If it watch such shows as "Hit 10," "Nochede Salsa," "Studio Mix" and "What's Up, Spike?" on Major Black Entertainment 24-7, a satellite channel based in London. The Louisville-produced shows are part of a mix of round-the-clock ethnic and urban programming that is targeted not just at Europe's growing population of immigrants and nonwhites, but Briefly Who's the nation's favorite TV personality? Oprah Winfrey, 49, according to the Harris Poll, which surveyed Americans on their favorite TV stars of 2002. Rounding out the top 10, in order, were: Ray Romano.

45; Da Oprah Winfrey I Li Jt vid Letter-man, 55; Katie Couric, 46; Bill O'Reilly, 53; Jennifer Aniston, 34; Dr. Phil McGraw, 52; Tom Brokaw, 63; Jay Leno, 52; and Dan Rather, 71. The Rolling Stones will kick off their first tour of China on April 1. Until this year, no records by the Stones or their lead singer Mick Jagger, 59, had ever been officially released in the world's most populous nation. "Riverdance" star Michael Flatley has been slapped with a $35 million lawsuit by a Chicago woman who claims the 44-year-old dancer gave her jL i 1 Some of the programs exported tew.

VS" are "Hit 10" with host Shane Collins, top; a children's show with comic Spike Davis, center; and "Noche de Salsa" with De-lores Jones. BY ARZA BARNETT, THE COURIER-JOURNAL Mike Markwell, who describes himself as a TV junkie, sat in an office at Head First Media where "Studio Mix" is taped. a private dance (and a little more) at a Las Vegas hotel last October. He denies the allegations. And finally Cher's teal-and-black wig, stolen from her concert tour in Richmond, has been recovered.

A woman walked Smoky dragon rolls are magically app-eel-ing Cher's $10,000 wig Iumi into a police precinct and turned in the braided hairpiece, valued at between $8,000 and $10,000. Quote of the day "What are the girls going to do? Have a calculator in the room? The girls aren't the best at math." Geoff Arnold, president of the Nevada Brothel Association, on a proposed state tax. Birthdays Actors: Daniel J. Travanti, 63; Jonn Heard, 57; Bryan Cranston, 47; Bill Brochtrup, 40; Rachel Weisz, 32; Laura Prepon, 23. Photographer: Lord Snowdon, 73.

Rock musicians, Chris White, 60; Peter Wolf, 57; Mat What makes sushi so appealing? It's beautiful, certainly. Nigiri sushi has the translucent, often opalescent quality of the raw fish on top of neatly formed rice ovals. Sometimes the seasoned rice and complementary ingredients are rolled into ice-cream-cone-shaped forms. Other sushi is rolled jelly-roll style to enclose jewel-like bits of raw fish, pickled vegetables or a variety of ingredients. It also tastes fabulous.

Clean and light, it leaves the diner satisfied without obliterating the palate. Even children who suspect the worst about new foods tend to love sushi; they don't seem offended by its basic sophistication. Sushi is one of my favorite foods. aiV sometimes they are called "caterpillar rolls." We think dragon rolls sound a lot more adventurous. They sell at both Sapporo locations for $8.95.

Craving information about sushi? Satisfy your cravings by visiting www.sushilinks.com, which links you to everything from recipes and nutritional information to lingo and the secrets of talking to sushi chefs. Learn how to make sushi. Louisville's Crane House, an Asian cultural center, will be the site of a sushi-making class on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Instructor Carol Lee will introduce various types of sushi and teach students basic skills. Participants will watch demonstrations and prepare their own sushi.

The fee is $20 for Crane House members and $30 for others. Reservations are required by Monday and can be made by calling 635-2240 or e-mailing admci cranenouse.org. The Crane House is at 1244 S. Third St. Is there a food or cooking ingredient you love? Tell us! Write: Sarah Fritschner, The Courier-Journal, P.O.

Box 740031, Louisville, Ky. 40201-7431. Ore-mail: sfritschnerQtjcou And among my favorites, 1 have found a new favorite dragon rolls at Sapporo Japanese Grill and Sushi (1706 Bardstown Road) and its sister restaurant, Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi (12905 Shel-byville Road). Dragon rolls differ substantially from the average sushi roll. First, it's inside out.

The seaweed nori is on the inside, not the outside but it is still considered one of the "ma-ki" sushi family of rolled sushi. Second, it doesn't contain raw seafood. While cooked fillings and vegetarian fillings aren't unheard of in sushi rolls, they are nonetheless reassuring to diners suspicious of raw fish. 1 happen to love raw fish, but the tidbits of smoked eel tucked into the dragon roll are aromatic, delicious and stand up admirably to the incendiary wasabi that comes with it on the slightly bowed white triangular plate. Those who cringe at raw seafood may feel no better at the thought of eating eel; but that would be wrong.

Eel, being extremely fatty, picks up smoke flavor well, and, eating dragon rolls, you certainly wouldn't be conscious of eating anything "weird." Your trepidation at eating eel might be subdued because the bits of eel are small, paired with bits of avocado, surrounded by season- BY DURtLL HALL THE COURIER-JOURNAL The dragon rolls at Sapporo restaurants on Bardstown Road and on Shelbyville Road are as satisfying to the eye as the palate. IN SEARCH thew Fisher, 57; Peggy March, 55; Ernie Isley, 51; Taylor Dayne, 38; Randy Guss, 36; Hugo Ferreira, 29. Sports figures: Janet Guthrie, 65; Franco Harris, 53; Lynn Swann, 51; Ivan TV weatherman: Willard Scott, 69. Walt Disney Co. chairman: Michael GREAT FOOD SARAH ed rice and augmented by toasted sesame seeds.

Perhaps what makes the dragon roll special, however, are the "scales" of green avocado draped over the roll. Sliced thin as only a sushi chef could make them, these neatly laid avocado pieces are shined with an eel sauce glaze and look for all the world like scales of a dragon. But sushi's fame comes from FRISTCHIMER Laura Prepon tasting as good as it looks, and these rolls are no exception. The avocado gives the dish an appealing creami-ness. The eel sauce (eel simmered with soy sauce and sugar) is aromatic and delicious.

Nori, smoky eel and sweet sushi rice complete the picture. Sapporo owner Korean Kyong Kim, a former sushi chef, said that dragon rolls are fairly common on sushi menus in this area, and that I Eisner, 61. E-mail columnist David Walton at.