The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 53

THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2002 D7 ARTS BRIEFS Prize goes to violinist Violinist Olivier Thouin, 27, of Montreal has won the 2002 Young Canadian Musicians Award, established by the late Haig Oundjian of Toronto. The prize includes $5,000, a concert engagement and career-development assistance. Judges for the 8-year-old award were pianist Anton Kuerti, baritone Russell Braun, violinist and conductor Peter Oundjian, and Richard Bradshaw, general director of the Canadian Opera Company. A winner of the Prix d'Europe, Thouin has appeared as a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. An honour for Ehnes Canadian violinist James Ehnes has been named young artist of the year by the MIDEM association (Marche International du Disque et de l'Edition Musi-cale) for his recording of Bach Sonatas and Partitas (Analekta FL2 3147-8).

The same disc earned the 26-year-old a Juno award for best album (in the solo-chamber music category) in 2001. The 36th MIDEM congress started Sunday in Cannes, France. Young Artist of the Year is an international award voted on by critics from six countries. Ehnes, born in Brandon, made his solo debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at 13 and has gained a reputation as one of the world's most promising young concert violinists. tiS' J'f A COURTESY OF CTV Nostalgia isn't a bad premise for a sitcom, but That '80s Show doesn't give much insight into the Me decade beyond the usual stereotypes.

Forever in spandex That '80s Show revisits those glory days of yuppies and Boy George motorcycle. Instead of telling us something fresh about the Me decade, That '80s Show trots out the usual stereotypes, Miami Vice clothes and Boy George look-alikes to disguise bland characters, a below-average script and predictable jokes about coke-snorting, sexual preferences and the Carpenters. There are big yuks in the opening episode at least from the obnoxious laugh track-when Corey defends his ex-girlfriend (Brittany Daniel), an airhead who has recently decided she's bisexual "It's like a vegetarian who likes turkey every now and then," Corey tells his father (Geoff Pierson), who's not convinced: "You turned a perfectly good woman into alady golfer" More orchestrated guffaws from the cheap seats. No doubt there's a good story to tell about the '80s, once we get far away enough to look back with more fondness than regret Until then, you might be safer in the '70s. If nothing else, the clothes are brighter and the music's snappier.

Thai '80s Show debuts tomorrow at 8 p.m on CFCF-12, CJOHSand WFFF-44. CBC launches a national talent hunt this week to find Canada's best undiscovered singers and musicians, with the winner promised their very own television and radio special. Contestants have until April 1 to enter the Great Canadian Music Dream It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of decadence and conspicuous consumption, of cocaine and corporate takeovers, of royal weddings, Reaganomics and really bad music. Jane Fonda, that bellwether of the boomer generation, traded anti-war slogans for spandex and the sexual revolution surrendered to the AIDS epidemic.

Are we having fun yet? Feeling nostalgic for those halcyon days of yuppies in shoulder pads, Alexis Carring-ton plotting by the pool and 57 varieties of balsamic vinegar? Or have you managed, like so many of us who actually had to endure them, to block those years from your consciousness until they are little more than a dull blur of Rambo movies, self-help tapes and Cyndi Lauper tunes? That '80s Show, which debuts tomorrow on Fox and CTV, is the latest situation comedy to capitalize on the current nostalgia craze. Like its predecessor, That '70s Show, the half-hour comedy relies and depends upon the audience's fascination with pop-culture icons of another time the songs, shows and jingles we loved when we were younger and crazier As a premise, it's not a bad one. Witness this season's obsession with the hits of yesteryear, from I Love Lucy and Carol Burnett reruns to Roots and Gilligan's Island retrospectives. But consider for a moment tonight's edition of Biography, which features a rundown of television's 15 funniest comedians. Chosen by critics and stand- competition, which is open to people of all ages and musical tastes.

A jury made up of music-industry professionals will select regional finalists, who will perform in televised competitions, to be taped in late summer for national broadcast between Jan. 6 and Feb. 3, 2003. Regional finalists will face off on Feb. 10, 2003.

Winners will be chosen by juries, a studio audience and viewers, who will get to vote via the Internet or a toll-free number. By then, the CBC expects to have ironed out the kinks that hijacked last week's attempt to solicit audience feedback. Viewers who tried to record their opinions on Friday's pilot episodes of An American in Canada and Rideau Hall were stymied when the voice-mail box filled up quickly, refusing to take any more calls. The dial-a-ballot format still won't be perfect; only one vote per telephone number or Internet hookup will be accepted. And there's nothing to stop a modestly talented but enterprising self-promoter from trying to stack the deck by getting everyone they know to call in on their behalf.

If someone is that driven, a CBC official conceded there's not much they can do. "Everyone has an equal chance to cheat." To find out more about contest rules or obtain an entry form, log on to www.cbc.camusicdream or call the toll-free number (888)303-5172. Peggy Curran's E-mail address is pcurranthegazette.southam.ca. Heppner cuts tour EDMONTON Opera singer Ben Heppner has canceled several dates on his tour because of laryngitis. The Toronto-based tenor was supposed to perform a concert in Edmonton tomorrow, but "has been advised by his physician to cancel all upcoming performances," according to a news release Heppner's New York management office said the 46-year-old singer also canceled performances in Chicago after he had to stop three-quarters of the way through an aria last week at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto because of trouble with his voice.

The tour is set to end with a Carnegie Hall performance in New York City on Feb. 11. MTV goes Canadian TORONTO Nelvana, the Coras Entertainment-owned animation house, has signed a deal with MTV in the U.S. to produce a pair of new youth-oriented TV series. Clone High will be an animated comedy about youngsters who learn they are cloned versions of famous historical figures, from Abraham Lincoln to Gandhi to John F.

Kennedy. Varsity Blues, meanwhile, is a live-action premise based on the Paramount movie of the same title about high-school football high jinks. CP. GAZETTE TV TONIGHT Two from de Havilland Peggy Curran's picks of tonight 's programs: Celebrity Weddings II (WPTZ-5 at 8) Tacky nuptials of the rich and famous. Undeclared (WFFF-44 at Stephen (Jay Baruchel) and his dorm mates prepare for their parents' visit.

You Can Count on Me (M3 at Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo are a sister and brother trying to pull their broken family back together. CBC News: Disclosure (CBMT-6 at 9) Diana Swain investigates working conditions at the Honduras plant of Montreal manufacturing giant Gildan Activewear. The Guardian (WCAX-3 at 9): Nick is hired to represent the estate of a rich woman. Frasier (Global, cable 3 and WPTZ-5 at 9): Frasier appears on a radio show for teenagers. Secret Life of the Brain (WETK-33 and WCFE-57 at 9): Science series begins by looking at how children learn to speak.

24 (WFFF-44 and CH-62 at 9): Klefer Sutherland stars as CIA agent. The Snake Pit (PIX at 9): Olivia de Havilland In a mental institution. Phllly (CFCF-12 and WVNY-22 at 10): Kim Delaney stars as an overwhelmed defense attorney. Rerun. Smallville (WFFF-44 at 10): Tom Welling stars as high-school Superboy.

Rerun. My Cousin Rachel (PIX at Man begins to suspect the worst about his new wife. Olivia de Havilland and Richurd Burton star. Letterman (WCAX-3 at Llv Tyler. Rerun.

Leno (WPTZ-5 at Kate Wlnslet. The other side of the drag divide Move over, Dame Edna: Winnipeg publication celebrates the world of drag kings PEGGY CURRAN TV RADIO up comics, it's a cheap, quick dust-off of archival footage, with some striking omissions and no analysis. Leaning heavily on the early days of TV comedy, the Biography list has more to do with the show's older-than-aver-age demographic than it does with what's worked for the last 30 years. Still, it's memorable for a quote from off-the-wall comic Ernie Kovacs: "Television is called a medium because it's so rarely well done." Therein lies the problem with That "80s Show, which is nowhere near as funny or original as it could have been, or as representative of the period as, say, Michael J. Fox's earnest, money-grubbing Alex P.

Keaton on Family Ties. Glenn Howerton plays Corey, a philosophy grad who wants to be a musician but toils in an independent record store. He's surrounded by the usual gang of quirky characters best friend Roger (Eddie Chin), who can't wait to sell his soul to the highest bidder; dropout sister Katie (Tinsley Grimes); boss Margaret (Margaret Smith), a world-weary rock n' roll groupie who rides a the public at largo," said Lagartera, who did much of the writing for the first edition. "It explains what drag kinging Is and it's a networking-resource guide for drag kings." So what Is a drag king? It's not Just about looking masculine, Lagartera sa Id. "There ore some people who clearly fool more comfortable In mule attire.

'i A I V- i 1 I 4 (f: Clarissa Lagartera, aka Winnipeg 1 'v 'it ff-ii'n-ii'ilfVri'T' MARC GALLANT, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS drag king Carlos Las Vegas, hams It up. skewer society's sex-role stereotypes and celebrate their masculine side. There are a couple of dozen drag kings in Winnipeg, Lagertera said. Most of Winnipeg's drag kings are lesbian, she said. They are not to be confused with women who dress and act masculine.

Then there are the "bio kings," Lagartera explained. Often, they're male comedians who are parodying their own masculinity, or lack of it, like Kids in the Hall's Scott Thompson with his lisping, promiscuous Buddy Cole character Lagartera said the idea for the magazine came about two years ago when the international drag king convention In Columbus, Ohio, couldn't get the attention of gay and lesbian media outlets. Mainstream media covered the International Drag King Extravaganza, as it's known, but it didn't get a mention in publications like the Advocate, Out and Curve magazine. Lagartera and Kuliga decided to make their own publication chronicling the conference. That Idea evolved into a magazine about drag kings in general, with interviews, biographies, tips, comics and poetry Drag kings have been around since the 1910s, but have never been able to generate the hype that drag queens like Dume Edna and Ru Paul have.

Lagartera said that Is changing, with drag kings making recent appearances on TV's Sex and the City, Queer As Folk and the Maury Povlch Show. Winnipeg Free Press WINNIPEG Winnipeg's newest magazine has tips on how to apply a o'clock shadow, how to bind breasts and how to simulate a bulging crotch with proper packing. The Inaugural edition of Kingdom, which makes its Canadian debut on Friday, is believed to be the first international drag-king magazine. It's co-published by Clarissa Lagartera, aka drag king Carlos Las Vegas, in Winnipeg, and her partner in Washington, D.C., Kendra Kuliga, whose stage name is Ken Las Vegas. The magazine was launched in the United States late last year and featured in the Washington Post.

Since then it's been selling out at specialty bookstores in the U.S. Now, instead of publishing twice a year, they're looking at a quarterly "We didn't suspect it would gain this much popularity," Lagartera said. Lagartera and Kuliga have started small, publishing Just under 1,000 copies of the 77 page black-and-white magazine that sells for $5 in Canada. The program-sized publication was produced In Washington, but Is printed and distributed In Winnipeg. Lngartera said it took five months to put the magazine together mostly with the help of volunteer contributors, including drag kings from Australia, Japan and the US.

"It's a more Inclusive magazine for That's not associated ith drag." Singer K.D. Lang, for Instance, Is not considered a drag king, nor Is a woman who pretends to be a man at the shopping mull. Kings are performers and entertainers who take to the stage. "They dress much more flamboyantly." Through comedy and music they.