ROCK AND ROLL HEAVEN

by Lauren Kanter

On "American Dreams", modern pop stars get to portray their idols.   "American Dreams" sure does draw a good crowd.  The NBC family drama has lured both country crooners and pop princesses to re-create classic "American Bandstand" scenes. 

"American Dreams" Executive Producer JONATHAN PRINCE recalls the show's high notes.  

And here's one of those high notes:  

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT as NANCY SINATRA  

"She came in and laid down [the song] 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin' in an hour.  She was just channeling Nancy Sinatra."

Story: © 2004 TV Guide Newspapers Inc. - a News Corporation Company. All Rights Reserved.
Images: © 2003 dick clark productions inc. and National Broadcasting Companies. Inc. - a GE Company. All Rights Reserved.

From My Love Hewitt Websites - January 26, 2004

'TIME OF THEIR LIVES':
GOLDEN GLOBES' STYLE

Singer-Actress (Former TOYL star/producer) Jennifer Love Hewitt attended the Warner Bros./InStyle Golden Globes After Party on Sunday, January 25, 2004 at the Palm Court in the Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, California USA.

Another Jennifer....former "Time Of Your Life" co-star and "Alias" star JENNIFER GARNER also attended the party. The former stars of TOYL got to sharing good times and beautiness.

Singers & husband and wife: Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson were the party performers.

By the way, The diamond earrings worn by Jennifer Love Hewitt at the Golden Globes were made by Daniel K based in New York. At a retail of $66,000, the earrings are high-end dangling canary (yellow) diamonds that go from the palest whisper to a vibrant color.   The design of the earring is also what's hot.

Image: © 2004 Wireimage.com. All Rights Reserved.

The meeting in this story was some 2 to three years ago....asuming when she was filming "The Devil & Daniel Webster.....

From The New York Post - January 26, 2004

THE PIANO LAD

by Barbara Hoffman

But 20-year-old Peter Cincotti doesn't let it faze him.

Since he was 7, Manhattan's home-grown jazz prodigy has been regularly playing piano in places that wouldn't otherwise let him in.

"It's so weird," he told The Post between gigs the other day.

"I was playing a club in Seattle and went to the bar to order a Coke and the bartender's like, 'Sorry, sir, you'll have to step away from the bar.'

"I mean, I just wanted a Coke!"

Cincotti finally got the soda - and he seems to have the rest of the world on a string.

The Columbia University sophomore took a leave of absence last year - and it's been a pretty productive one:

He toured the world, released a CD (No. 1 on Billboard's Traditional Jazz chart) and made a movie - two, if you count a non-speaking (but singing) cameo in the coming "Spider-Man 2."

Next Monday, he'll make his Lincoln Center debut, playing and singing sultry songs like "Sway" ("Make me thrill as only you know how/Sway me smooth, sway me now") and "You Stepped Out of a Dream."

But real love, for now, is pretty much a dream.

"I don't have time for romance," he says, though a few years ago, he took a stab at dating a movie star.

Cincotti was playing a club his senior year at Horace Mann when Jennifer Love Hewitt came up for his autograph.

"She wants my autograph?" he remembers thinking, shaking his head. He gave it to her, then asked her to his prom, which was right around the corner.

"I figured, Gee, what better time to ask Jennifer Love Hewitt out?

"She was making a movie then, but promised to call. And she did."

And while she couldn't go to the prom with him, "We've kind of been in touch ever since," he admits.

Cincotti's career began at age 3, when his grandmother gave him a toy piano and taught him to play "Happy Birthday."

"I've been on the road this whole year, and it's been crazy," he says. "I'm having a ball, but the more I travel, the more I miss New York."

The other night he flew in from Berlin, where he spent the last three months shooting "Beyond the Sea," starring a swingin', singin' Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin of "Mack the Knife" fame.

"People are really going to be surprised," Cincotti promises. "Kevin sounds just like Bobby Darin."

As Dick Behrke, Bobby's longtime buddy and music arranger, Cincotti essentially plays himself - a musician, but in period clothes, and and with his trademark tsunami of chestnut hair slicked back, '50s style.

He gets the gigs, but not the girl - Kate Bosworth, who plays Darin's wife, Sandra Dee.

"I was pushing for the romantic scenes with Kate, but it never happened," Cincotti jokes. "I'd go up to Kevin and say, 'Can't I just be Bobby Darin in this scene?' "

Story: © 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

It's Chinese New Ys Chinese New Year what does the future hold for you?

WELCOME to the year of the Monkey. Chinese New Year begins today andwe should all be in the mood for love.

Monkey years tend to bring great inventions and smart thinkers come to the fore and are listened to. The world of communications is in for a big shake-up and revamp, as is the world of day-to-day travel. People whowant to get ahead will be found jumping into the limelight, making their markon the world. Monkeys live in communes and are outrageous flirts which means a bit of this will rub off on us all. Here, LYNN WART tells us whowe could find love with, whowe should steer well clear of andwhat the year has in store.

Here's one of them.....

THE GOAT is a creative, companionable, amiable character who is often rather talented with the hands, yet can't be bothered with mundane things, won't get into a stew about a messy kitchen, and drives organised types to distraction. They attract assertive partners who help to channel their gifts, but they do like to go at their own, rather sedate pace.

Love match: Dreamy Goats match cosily with the gentle, but determined, Rabbit, find inspiration with fun-loving Horses, and often make lucky mates for Pigs, who are very understanding. You don't do so well with a serious Ox or ''tut-tutting'' Dog. Rats hide their feelings more than you like, too. l Year ahead: You'll be offered creative success, with new introductions to people who'll be good for you. A brother or sister will be celebrating, too.

Famous goats: Cheryl Baker, Julia Roberts, Matt Le Blanc and

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT.

Story: © 2004 The Daily Record. All Rights Reserved.

From The Associated Press - January 21, 2004

DIAMONDS AND
A LOVELIER DIAMOND

Singer-Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt arrived at InStyle Magazine's sneak peak at red carpet fashion for the 2004 awards season on Wednesday, January 21, 2004, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Photos by Chris Weeks

Images & Story: © 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

FABULOUS FURS ARE FANTASTIC FAKES

by Jan Perry
Post contributor

When Nicole Kidman, Macy Gray, Kevin Bacon, Matthew Broderick, Ashton Kutcher and the rest of the celebrity elite board the private jets that will deliver them to tonight's opening of the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, they'll be receiving a "goodie" bag filled with only the very best.

Along with cutting-edge electronic toys, Godiva chocolates and Cristal champagne, each of the gift packs will include an assortment of incredible wearables made right here in Covington.

"That was an exciting call to get," said Donna Salyers, founder and president of Fabulous-Furs, a company that provides a luxurious man-made alternative to animal fur items. "We are grateful for all our customers, but it's definitely an honor to be included in something like this."

Salyers' fantastic faux furs (praised by PETA) are no stranger to the spotlight. Her exquisite coats, stoles, pillows and throws have graced the pages of People, Home magazine and the Wall Street Journal. They're often "borrowed" from the suites at one of France's finest hotels, and seen on stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York. They've been used on the Christopher Lowell decorating show as well as on the sets of nearly every soap opera you can name, including the on-screen home of daytime drama's most divine diva, Susan Lucci, who swears by them.

They've made their way into prime-time as well. An episode of "Designing Women" featured one of their jackets, on a show that focused on over-zealous anti-fur protesters.

"We've been in contact with someone involved with "Will and Grace." They are working on a script that will use humor to make some kind of statement about fur as well," she said.

Whether Salyers' creations are bought to save money, protect animals or just because they look so darn good -- the truth of the matter is, everyone is wearing them -- from Cosmo's Helen Gurley Brown to Jennifer Love Hewitt's dog to a bevy of beauties sporting fur bikinis for this year's swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.

So how did this wonderful obsession begin? Not the way you'd think.

"I certainly didn't grow up dreaming about fur coats," said the Covington native. "My family was poor. We had very little when I was growing up. Very little. I went to work when I was 13. I had to help pay the bills."

Eventually getting a job as a writer and then moving on to a successful career on television, Salyers was actually on her way to buying a mink coat when a radio broadcast led her to rethink the decision.

"Paul Harvey came on with a story about "mink" teddy bears that it turned out were actually made out of kitten fur," said Salyers, as she stroked Patches, her own cat that was curled up on the conference table at the company's 100,000-plus-square-foot headquarters and catalog center.

"I didn't exactly think of it as a sign or anything, but I knew I wasn't going to buy the coat. So I started looking for an alternative, for a fabric that was realistic -- one that would look and feel and wear like a real fur coat."

But 15 years ago, the available selection of imitation furs fell far short.

"I called everyone I knew," said the soft-spoken entrepreneur. "Most of what was available back then looked more like shag carpet than actual fur. But I had some connections and I finally found what I was looking for. I designed a coat, made a pattern and I sewed it together myself. My friends couldn't tell it from the real thing."

It wasn't long before those friends and other acquaintances began to ask her to do the same for them.

"I thought, 'Well, there just might be something to this' and that's how it all started.

"At first I just sold kits," Salyers said. "Customers gave us the size and other details and we sent them the cut pieces including shoulder pads, lining and even the labels. But the requests for finished coats kept growing until we finally stopped selling kits and became a ready-to-wear company."

And coats were just the beginning.

"We are constantly looking for new items to make and new uses for the ones we already offer," she said. "It started with just a few accessories and only a few 'furs.' Now we make hats, gloves, scarves, headbands and much, much more."

In addition to traditional clothing items, there are personal goods including headbands, hair scrunchies, cases for glasses, cell phone covers and even a sleeve for an old-fashioned hot-water bottle. There are baseball caps, a wine pouch, a keyboard cozy and classic club covers for the best-dressed duffer on the links.

Little girls can dress like princesses -- sweet in pink with white "mink" cuffs and collars. (There are matching outfits in sizes made to fit popular dolls.) For bouncing babies there's a faux fur diaper cover and bootie set. And, of course, there's an entire line of pet products including, what else -- a Fabulous-Fur coat for your pampered pooch to wear over his or her real one.

"Imagination plays a vital role in my job," said Salyers, who counsels women that are interested in starting their own businesses.

"I enjoy the challenge. Trying to stay ahead and anticipate next year's hot items, that's the part that keeps you awake at night. And it really never gets easier," she said. "When you get better at what you're doing, you get bigger. The bigger you get, the more you have to lose."

She quickly added that even with the long hours and financial risks, she loves it.

"This is a wonderful life. I enjoy hearing what the customers have to say and the people I work with are some of the best. Besides, surrounded by all these beautiful furs, who wouldn't love it?"

Fabulous-Furs is located at 25 W. Robbins St. in Covington. Orders may be placed and catalogs requested at (800) 848-4650 or online at www.fabulousfurs.com.

Story: © 2004 The Cincinatti Post - an E.W. Scripps newspaper. All Rights Reserved.

From The Jamaica Observer - January 18, 2004

JAMAICA: COUNTRY MUSIC'S HOME AWAY FROM HOME

by Howard Campbell

When Kenny Rogers performs at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival on January 23 at the Wyndham Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay, it will be the country legend's first show in this country. Rogers, like many country singers, is extremely popular in Jamaica but unlike their Rhythm And Blues counterparts, not many country stars have performed here.

Jamaicans' love affair with country music goes back to the 1950s when the sound was known as country and western. Singer Marty Robbins, arguably the country singer with the most influence on Jamaican music, was starting out then while others such as Skeeter Davis and Jim Reeves were already established.

Rogers and Dolly Parton kept the country train chugging along in the 1970s and 1980s, and in recent times, Leann Rimes, Faith Hill and Shania Twain have had big hits here. But long before VH1 and Country Music Television, Jamaicans depended on the record store and radio for their fill of music from 'Down South'.

Today, SunDay Entertainment looks at one of many artistes, and albums, that still have the fans cooing.

PATSY CLINE: She may not be a household name as the other artistes but Cline's music is just as popular with Jamaicans. Considered by many to be the Aretha Franklin of country music, Cline hailed from the hills of Virginia and struck it big in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The songs that made her famous are I Fall To Pieces, She's Got You, Sweet Dreams and Crazy, which was written by a young songwriter named Willie Nelson. Cline was killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee in March, 1963; she was 30 years-old. Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood had a hit with their cover of I Fall To Pieces in the mid 1990s.

Story: © 2004 The Jamaica Observer. All Rights Reserved.

JUNE BLOCKBUSTERS 2004

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”: The third Potter novel hits the screen with the same cast that made the first two movies mega-mega-mega hits. Opens June 4.

“The Chronicles of Riddick”: Vin Diesel once again plays Riddick, the escaped convict he brought to the screen in the science-fiction adventure “Pitch Black.” This film takes place five years later, when Riddick finds himself in the midst of a war. Opens June 11.

“Garfield”: Twentieth Century Fox is blending live-action and computer animation to bring the famous comic-strip cat to life. Bill Murray handles Garfield’s voice and the live-action stars include Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Opens June 25.

“The Terminal”: Tom Hanks teams with Steven Spielberg again to tell the story of a wartime refugee who takes up residence in a New York airport. Also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci. Opens June 18.

Story: © 2004 Gannett Co. Inc. All Rights Reserved.

'BOOTS'

Recently performing as Nancy Sinatra on NBC's "American Dreams," Jennifer Love Hewitt adopted a puppy on location and named her Boots.

At the time she was performing "These Boots Were Made For Walking," hence the appropriate name.

Mia has a playmate.

And the cats have additional competition.

Story: © 2004 Internet Movie Database Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2003 dick clark productions inc. and National Broadcasting Companies. Inc. - a GE Company. All Rights Reserved.

THE NEXT BIG THING? YOUNG MOVIE
HOPEFULS HEADING YOUR WAY IN 2004

by Nancy Mills

HOLLYWOOD, CA - The actors and actresses presented here may not all turn out to be household names, but all of them have a shot at the big time, if the insider buzz is to be believed. But why does one unknown become "hot" while another waits desperately for the phone to ring?

"My radar is tripped by different things," says New York-based casting director Kathleen Chopin. "Sometimes it's an actor who has access to incredible depths of emotion and is a chameleon. Or someone has a slightly left- or right-of-center personality or is particularly beautiful and has a sparkling sense of humor. Those two qualities don't often go together, so it's exciting when you find it."

EMMY ROSSUM

This 17-year-old got her show-business start at 7, when she joined the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera. She quit at 12 to try acting because girls weren't allowed to audition for solos. She sang hauntingly in "Songcatcher," played the young Audrey Hepburn in the TV movie THE AUDREY HEPBURN STORY starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, and was more recently seen as Sean Penn's doomed daughter in "Mystic River" and she'll be in the action/science fiction motion picture, "The Day After Tomorrow" for Fox on Memorial Day weekend. Then Rossum will have the plum part of all as the beautiful young Parisian singer CHRISTINE in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," directed by Joel Schumacher for Warner Bros. in late 2004, with her co-stars PATRICK WILSON as Raoul and GERARD BUTLER as The Phantom.

What's special about her? "My whole family is tone-deaf, but I have perfect intonation. When my mother was pregnant, she listened every night to Kiri Te Kanawa."

What does she want? "I was never one of those kids who sat in front of the TV and pretended she was Judy Garland. I never dreamed of being an actress, but now I love it, although I want to go to college and study philosophy and English literature."

Story: © 2004 Daily News, L.P. in association with My Love Hewitt Websites. All Rights Reserved.
'Phantom' Image: © 2004 Warner Bros Pictures Inc. - a Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Rossum Image: Emmy Rossum. All Rights Reserved.