Wonder lands halftime gig for Super Bowl show

Wonder lands halftime gigfor Super Bowl show
DETROIT -- Motown fans miffed by the NFL's choice of the Rolling Stones for Super Bowl halftime entertainment are getting at least some satisfaction: Stevie Wonder will perform during the pre-game show at Ford Field.
Wonder will play three or four songs before the Feb. 5 game, Lori Lambert, vice president of strategic marketing for Universal Motown Records Group, told The Associated Press on Monday.
Other artists -- still to be announced -- also will be featured in the pre-game show, Lambert said.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league wasn't prepared to make an announcement about the pre-game show. However, he said, "We would be thrilled to be able to work with Stevie Wonder again."
Wonder performed during halftime in 1999.
The NFL's announcement last week that the Rolling Stones would provide the halftime entertainment prompted an uproar in Detroit, the original home of Motown Records, the label for artists such as Wonder, Smokey Robinson, the Supremes and the Four Tops.
Detroit-area residents are fiercely proud of the city's musical contributions, which extend beyond Motown to more recent stars including Eminem and Kid Rock.
Aretha Franklin's career started at the Detroit church where her father preached, and the Queen of Soul still lives in the area. Ted Nugent, Madonna and Bob Seger also hail from Michigan.
Many saw it as a snub that those stars were passed over for halftime. Detroit radio personality Mildred Gaddis gave out the phone number of an NFL official on the air and urged listeners to call and complain.
McCarthy said it was always the league's intention to honor Motown in the pre-game show. But halftime, he said, is bigger than Detroit.
"The Super Bowl transcends the host city and even the country," he said.
McCarthy noted that the 1998 Super Bowl in San Diego featured a Motown tribute in honor of the label's 40th anniversary. Performers included Robinson, Martha Reeves and The Temptations.
Newton-John finds shecan cope with her music
SYDNEY, Australia -- Olivia Newton-John said her singing is helping her cope with the mysterious disappearance of her longtime boyfriend.
Patrick McDermott, 48, failed to return from a June 30 fishing trip off the California coast. It is being investigated as a missing person case.
Newton-John told an Australian TV network that her grief was so intense she did not think she would ever sing again, but she said that was "terrifying." She said singing is her soul and music is a "very healing thing."
Newton-John said the pain comes in waves. She said she thinks she's coping, then "you hit a wall or a wave and you go down and come up again."
Newton-John, 57, appeared opposite John Travolta in the 1978 movie "Grease." She is best known for songs such as "I Honestly Love You" and "Physical."
DiCaprio documentaryto focus on environment
LOS ANGELES -- He showed up at the Oscars in a hybrid car and lobbied loudly for worldwide access to clean water.
Now actor-activist Leonardo DiCaprio is making a documentary about global environmental issues.
He has started production on "11th Hour," a feature-length film that explores global warming and offers solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems, publicist Keleigh Thomas said Monday.
"Global warming is not only the No. 1 environmental challenge we face today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity," DiCaprio, 31, said in a statement.
The film is scheduled to be released in fall 2006, Thomas said.
DiCaprio, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Howard Hughes in 2004's "The Aviator," established the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to raise awareness about environmental issues.
The actor was also nominated for an Oscar for his role in 1993's "What's Eating Gilbert Grape."
He will collaborate on "11th Hour" with Tree Media Group founders Lelia Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners to produce, co-write and narrate the film.
Today's birthdays
Actor Eli Wallach is 90. Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne is 74. Actress Ellen Burstyn is 73. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is 68. ABC News anchorwoman Carole Simpson is 65. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bench is 58. Country singer Gary Morris is 57. Singer-songwriter Tom Waits is 56. Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, is 53. Actress Priscilla Barnes is 50. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Larry Bird is 49. Former "Tonight Show" announcer Edd Hall is 47. Rock musician Tim Butler (The Psychedelic Furs) is 47. Actor C. Thomas Howell is 39. Pop singer Nicole Appleton (All Saints) is 30. Rapper Kon Artis (D12) is 29. Actress Shiri Appleby is 27. Singer Aaron Carter is 18.
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