NBC goes green

NBC goes green

NEW YORK — NBC Universal isn’t painting its Rockefeller Center headquarters green — at least not yet — but the company is pushing all of its networks to deliver environmentally-friendly programming next week.

“Dateline NBC” will report on melting snow on mountains in Bolivia, “Today” will have daily segments on renewable energy, Jim Cramer will talk about “green” stocks on CNBC’s “Mad Money” and NBC is encouraging its affiliates to report on environmental issues on local newscasts.

Green is the password in late-night entertainment, too, where “Last Call with Carson Daly” brings on Darryl Hannah to talk about organic skateboards.

NBC Universal will also specifically seek out advertisers with green-friendly messages when it’s selling commercial time on NBC and its other networks this spring.

The company says it isn’t only preaching to others; NBC Universal is installing large solar panels at the company’s movie studios in California, and has eliminated all plastic foam from company cafeterias.

Cirque-Criss Angel production is named

LAS VEGAS — The long-hyped Cirque du Soleil-Criss Angel production now has a name. Producers say “Criss Angel Believe” will open Sept. 12 at the Luxor hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Previews begin Sept. 1. Tickets went on sale Thursday for casino VIPs and Angel fan club members.

Producers say the show takes its name from a Harry Houdini legend. The magician and escape artist is said to have designated a code word for communicating with him after his death. The word was “believe.”

Producers say Angel will star in the show as a “surreal, enigmatic Victorian noble.” The 40-year-old magician and illusionist is best known for his A&E series “Mindfreak.”

Slow recovery for Tejano singer

HOUSTON — Grammy-winning Tejano music singer Emilio Navaira could leave a Houston hospital in several weeks.

But doctors at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center said Friday that although Navaira has made a lot of progress, his recovery once he goes home could take months or even longer.

Navaira’s wife, Maria, said she was grateful that her husband, whose condition has been upgraded to fair, is out of danger.

The 45-year-old singer was behind the wheel of his tour bus on March 23 when it slammed into a collection of freeway barrels that mark the interchange of Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 59 in Bellaire, a southwest Houston enclave.

Fantasia will lead Apple Blossom Festival

WINCHESTER, Va. — An “American Idol” will serve as grand marshal of this year’s Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.

Festival officials announced that Fantasia Barrino, the winner of the third season of the Fox TV show, will be the celebrity marshal for the Grand Feature parade on May 3.

The 23-year-old Barrino has gone from high school dropout to a four-time Grammy nominee and Broadway actress. Fantasia followed her 2004 “American Idol” win by releasing her first CD “Free Yourself,” which has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. In April 2007, Fantasia debuted on Broadway, playing the lead role of Celie in the musical version of “The Color Purple.” She will star in the film version of the musical.

Today’s birthdays

Actor George Takei (“Star Trek”) is 71. Singer Johnny Tillotson is 69. Actor Ryan O’Neal is 67. Keyboardist Craig Frost of Grand Funk Railroad is 60. Actor Gregory Itzin (”24”) is 60. Actress Jessica Lange is 59. Actor Clint Howard is 49. Actor Crispin Glover is 44. Country singer Wade Hayes is 39. Actress Carmen Electra is 36. Bassist-keyboardist Marty Crandall of The Shins is 33. Actor Joey Lawrence (“Blossom,” “Brotherly Love”) is 32.