Ticket site swamped for Jackson tribute

August 21, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

VIENNA — Fans have swamped the Web site offering tickets for next month’s global Michael Jackson tribute in Vienna. Some 85,000 passes for the Sept. 26 event in the Austrian capital are up for grabs on tribute2009.com. Prices range from about $85 to more than $712. Event promoters say the Web site crashed more than half an hour before the sale was to start at 11 a.m. after a million people had accessed it. Jackson’s brother Jermaine is expected to name the performers in the next two weeks.

Whitney Houston’s back

NEW YORK — After a long absence from music, Whitney Houston is staging a much-hyped career comeback with an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Houston will be Winfrey’s first guest as the talk-show queen launches her 24th season Sept. 14. The 46-year-old superstar hasn’t done a major TV interview since 2002, when she addressed questions about her drug use from ABC’s Diane Sawyer. Houston is releasing her new album, “I Look to You,” on Aug. 31.

Today’s birthdays

Singer Kenny Rogers is 71. Actor Clarence Williams the Third (“The Mod Squad”) is 70. Actress Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”) is 53. Singer Serj Tankian of System Of A Down is 42. Singer Kelis is 30. Actress Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) is 20.