Billy Joel adds speech to concert
Billy Joel addsspeech to concert
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Billy Joel has added a second appearance in the Carrier Dome -- one at which he will talk instead of perform.
Syracuse University announced Thursday that Joel will be the keynote speaker for this year's May 14 commencement. The ceremony is held jointly with the graduating class from the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
"It's exciting. It's a double dose of Billy Joel," said Barbara Bochner, a Syracuse senior and a member of the student committee that developed a list of 20 possible speakers.
The 56-year-old pianist, singer and composer, whose signature song is "Piano Man," is scheduled to give a March 25 concert at the dome.
In September, Joel gave Syracuse's Setnor School of Music a $320,000 gift to establish musical scholarships and endowments for future composers.
Louis-Dreyfus rejectsidea of 'Seinfeld' curse
PASADENA, Calif. -- "Seinfeld" curse? What "Seinfeld" curse?
"My short answer is I have no worries about that because I'm on a heavy dose of antibiotics right now," actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus said Wednesday.
With that, she deflected questions about the inability of former "Seinfeld" cast members to have much television success after that NBC hit ended its run. Louis-Dreyfus' own "Watching Ellie" is in the wastebasket of failed shows.
You just have to keep trying, said Louis-Dreyfus, who is portraying a divorced mom in "The New Adventures of Old Christine," which will premiere on CBS this spring.
Her goal isn't to find a different character from Elaine, just to find someone funny, the 45-year-old actress said.
"I think the difference with this character is that perhaps she's a little more grounded and perhaps she's a little bit more real in a way that Elaine wasn't," she said. "But I would say that she has a pathetic quality that is similar, frankly. So set your TiVos."
Bratty stars area real turnoff for Elfman
PASADENA, Calif. -- Turnoffs for Jenna Elfman: bratty stars.
The former "Dharma & amp; Greg" star, who's in a new comedy about a single woman that will premiere on CBS this spring, says she's definitely not impressed with the attitudes of some people she sees in Hollywood.
"A lot of my peers that I've worked with, they're not on time," she said. "They think it's absolutely OK to have attitude and treat people like crap. And they think nothing of it. They have a sense of some sort of entitlement, where I don't know where that comes from."
Maybe it has something to do with not being brought up with much discipline, said Elfman, 34.
Her comments to reporters Wednesday briefly made Rob Hanning, executive producer of their new show, "Courting Alex," panic.
Today's Birthdays
Former Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ill., is 78. Actress Piper Laurie is 74. Actor Seymour Cassel is 71. Author Joseph Wambaugh is 69. Actor John Hurt is 66. Country singer-musician Teddy Gentry (Alabama) is 54. Movie director Jim Jarmusch is 53. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Mike Bossy is 49. Actress Linda Blair is 47. Actress Diane Lane is 41. Actor-rap DJ Jazzy Jeff is 41. Country singer Regina Nicks (Regina Regina) is 41. Actress Olivia d'Abo is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Gay (Shai) is 37. Actor Gabriel Macht is 34. Actor Balthazar Getty is 31. Actor Christopher Kennedy Masterson is 26. Pop singer Willa Ford is 25. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kelton Kessee (IMX) is 25. Actress Beverley Mitchell is 25. Rock singer-musician Ben Moody is 25.