Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • XB2

ARL M2B Thursday, May 25, 2006 www.star-telegram.com LiVe! OUR SPIN ON ENTERTAINMENT NEWS REVIEWS TOMORROW: So, you think you know everything about Katie Couric? Take the quiz. IN LIFE ARTS SAY ANYTHING been able to really explain going on because not taking dialysis. I have to thank my Art Buchwald, in an interview with The Associated Press. The syndicated columnist, 80, alive nearly four months after refusing treatment for his failing kidneys, is planning to spend the summer on Vineyard, finishing a book about his experience and waiting for Carly Simon once tapped to sing at his funeral to serenade him while still alive. CNN taps Baylor grad CNN Headline News announced Wednesday that hiring a new anchor, and she has Texas connections.

Richelle Carey, who will begin June 13, comes directly from St. Louis but before that, she anchored a morning show at KETK and covered the military and Fort Hood at KWTX. She also did a gig in Houston, some town not quite as note- worthy as Tyler or Waco. As befits someone who worked in Waco, Carey is a Baylor grad. Pianist clings to life Hilton Ruiz, a jazz pianist and composer who has worked with Tito Puente and Dizzy Gillespie, was in critical condi- tion in a New Orleans hospital Wednesday.

Ruiz has been unconscious since being found early Friday outside a Bourbon Street bar; his skull and many bones in his face had been broken, police say. Doctors doubt that the injuries were accidental, but have no suspect, no police spokesman Bob Young said. A lot less of Janet Janet Jackson displays her toned abs on the cover of Us magazine, which hits news- stands Friday. She dropped 60 pounds recently, weight she gained for a movie role she later declined. The producers of Tennessee to see me in a different light, as a heavier the 40-year-old singer, who weighed about 180 pounds at her heaviest, tells the mag.

timing quite work with trying to finish my album so I found myself having to take this weight off a lot quicker than I had The role went to Mariah Carey. Insert catty comment here. Celebrity birthdays Lyricist Hal David is 85. Former opera singer Beverly Sills is 77. Country singer-songwriter Tom T.

Hall is 70. Actor Sir Ian McKellen is 67. Country singer Jessi Colter and actress-singer Leslie Uggams are 63. Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz is 62. Singer Klaus Meine of the Scorpions is 58.

Rock singer Paul Weller is 48. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 43. Actress Anne Heche is 37. Actor-comedian Jamie Kennedy is 36. Rap- per Daz Dillinger and actress Molly Sims are 33.

Singer Lau- ryn Hill is 31. Actor Ethan Suplee is 30. Guitarist Todd Whit- ener of Tantric is 28. Actress-singer Lauren Frost is 21. Notable death on this date 2005 Ismail Merchant, half of the Merchant-Ivory film-making team, died in London at age 68.

Compiled from staff, Associated Press and online reports by Robert Owens PEOPLE WATCH At ease, Soul Patrol. Your guy is the new American Idol. Taylor Hicks, the 29-year-old from Birmingham, with the soulful sound and prematurely gray mop, won the fifth title Wednesday, beating out California girl Katharine McPhee, 22. Hicks is the oldest contestant to win American Idol. Upon hearing his name, Hicks shouted, referring to the nick- name his legion of fans goes by.

first single will be Do I Make You Proud, which he sang as credits rolled. Host Ryan Seacrest announced that 63.4 million votes were cast. In merciless Idol fashion, the name was saved until the final moments of the needlessly beefed-up production at the Kodak The- atre in Hollywood. Among the stars who performed were Prince, whose appearance seemed to shock everyone, and Al Jarreau, the band Live, Mary J. Blige and Dionne Warwick.

In perhaps the creepiest segment of the night, rocker Meat Loaf performed All Coming Back to Me Now with McPhee, who showed off her McTa-Tas in ensem- bles that looked as if they were culled from Mariah reject closet. A close runner-up in the catego- ry was performance with soulstress Toni Braxton, who hit a low with Elvis In the Ghetto. It was like a wannabe Pussycat Doll at a Sunday sermon, as Braxton writhed up against an uncomfortable Hicks during the ballad. Then there was Clay Aiken, the most famous A.I. runner-up, who apparently came to the theater straight from a Mystic Tan session.

Claymates may not have rec- ognized their boy wonder with his long, dark, product-filled, perfectly sectioned- off hair. For fans who get enough of Idol, have no fear: Tickets go on sale Saturday for the American Idols Live Tour, which rolls into Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8. Karalee Miller, (817) 390-7839 COMMENTARY Soul survivor THE ASSOCIATED DJANSEZIAN Taylor Hicks strikes yet another soulful pose as he is announced as the winner over Katharine McPhee.

Some 63.4 million votes were cast. Fans pick Hicks over McPheever By KARALEE MILLER STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER Top iTunes downloads Top 10 songs on iTunes Music Store for Wednesday: 1. Promiscuous, Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland 2. SOS, Rihanna 3. Bad Day, Daniel Powter 4.

Me Cassie 5. Over My Head (Cable Car), The Fray 6. Chamillionaire Krayzie Bone 7. Unfaithful, Rihanna 8. You Go, Fort Minor featuring Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga 9.

Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers 10. Snap Yo Fingers, Lil Jon featuring E-40 Sean Paul To download, go to www.apple.com/itunes SOURCE: Apple Computers DALLAS Ice Cube has come a long way from his days as the gri- macing gangsta who was in N.W.A. and then released Most Wanted, one of the most in- cendiary and best hip-hop discs of the Now, at 36, an actor (Barbershop), screenwriter (the Friday trilogy) and TV produc- er He even stars in family-friendly fare such as Are We There Yet? But it was Ice Cube 1.0 who took the stage at the Gypsy Tea Room on Tuesday night and has a new but decidedly old-school album coming out on June 6 titled Laugh Now, Cry Later, his first in six years. And playing the scowling social com- mentator remains his best role, even if he is more Hollywood than South Central these days. Accompanied by partner-in- rhyme WC, the rapper kept the mostly male forest of shaved or baseball-capped heads bob- the hour-long set.

It matter that much of his audi- ence now is more worried about mortgages than mayhem. He par- tied like it was 1991, touching on blistering material from early in his career such as The N---- Ya Love To Hate. His gruff delivery on Bow Down and Check Yo Self remains as rug- ged and raw as ever, and though some of his new material makes concessions to Lil Jon-style beats, still topped by his unmis- takably strong vocals. The biggest drawback was that he insisted on wasting time with cheap audience gimmicks (pretend- ing to leave the stage after 15 min- utes) while then only doing parts of some songs, such as How to Survive in South Central. Clipse made one of the strongest rap albums of the new century with Lord but its follow-up, due in August, has been four years in the making.

The half-hour set of ul- tra-funky beats and smooth flow promised that good things do indeed come to those who wait. Sandwiched in between was Tha Dogg Pound, which gave a crowd- pleasing but predictable rap perfor- mance. Cary Darling, (817) 390-7571 GETTY WALTER Rapper and actor Ice new album is due out on June 6. REVIEW MUSIC Ice Cube proves he can still make audiences melt Playing the scowling social commentator remains his best role, even if he is more Hollywood than South Central these days. By CARY DARLING STAR-TELEGRAM POP CULTURE CRITIC Trackless Sq.

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