Want to be the first to ride new coaster?

February 4, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

MASON, Ohio — Kings Island amusement park is auctioning off the first rides on its new high-rise, high-speed roller coaster. Proceeds go to a children’s charity.

The Diamondback steel coaster is scheduled to open to the public April 18 at the amusement park about 20 miles north of Cincinnati in Mason. The park plans to auction off at least 96 seats for the first, official riders on the Diamondback. Proceeds from the winning bids will go to A Kid Again, a nonprofit organization that supports children with life-threatening illnesses. The auction began Monday. Officials say the Diamondback is 230 feet tall at its highest point and riders will travel at speeds of more than 90 mph.

Springsteen, Phish headline Bonnaroo

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bruce Springsteen, fresh off his Super Bowl halftime performance, has been announced as a headliner at this year’s Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival, along with the recently reunited Phish.

It is scheduled to be the only performance by Springsteen and his E Street Band at a festival in North America this year. Other performers scheduled to perform from June 11-14 include Snoop Dogg, the Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, Elvis Costello, TV on the Radio, Al Green, Merle Haggard, David Byrne, Erykah Badu, Animal Collective, the Decemberists and Lucinda Williams.

The annual event, which is held on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., 60 miles south of Nashville, draws about 80,000 fans each year.

Springsteen, who released the CD “Working on a Dream” last week, is making the Bonnaroo pit stop during a nationwide tour; Phish is also launching a tour later this year, and Bonnaroo is also slated to be its only festival performance in North America.

More acts will be announced later. More than 120 bands and 20 comedians are expected to perform on 13 stages.

Degas sculpture sells for $19 million at auction

LONDON — A sculpture by French Impressionist Edgar Degas sold for 13.3 million pounds ($19 million) Tuesday at Sotheby’s auction house in London.

Degas’ “Petite danseuse de quatorze ans” or “Little 14-year-old dancer,” a bronze depicting a young ballerina with her chin tilted up and hands clasped behind her back, was bought by a private bidder from Asia.

Sotheby’s said the sale price is the highest ever paid for a Degas statue — the previous record was $12.3 million at Sotheby’s in New York in 1999. The sculpture is one of the highlights of Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and modern art on Tuesday.

Other works for sale include Amedeo Modigliani’s oil painting “Cariatide.” It is expected to sell for between 6 million and 8 million pounds. “Strassenszene” or “Street Scene” by German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is estimated to sell for 5 million to 7 million pounds.

Bale goes ballistic on set

LOS ANGELES — Christian Bale can be heard in newly surfaced audio delivering a long, profanity-laced verbal thrashing to a cinematographer and anyone who tried to calm him down on the set of the upcoming “Terminator Salvation.”

The three-minute clip was posted Monday on the Web site TMZ.com. In it, the actor who portrayed Batman in “The Dark Knight” rails against cinematographer Shane Hurlbut for apparently walking behind co-star Bryce Dallas Howard and through Bale’s line of sight, considered a film-set foul.

“If you do it one more time I ain’t walking on this set if you’re still hired!” Bale howls in one of the few publishable moments from the clip. Later, he screams: “Do you want me to go and trash your lights? Do you want me to go and trash them? ... Then why are you trashing my scene?”

The incident took place last July on the set at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, days before Bale would face assault allegations from his mother and sister in London. Charges were never filed because his family did not want to press the matter and because prosecutors said there was a lack of sufficient evidence.

Bale’s is the only voice that is audible on the tape, though he’s clearly responding to Hurlbut, the film’s director McG, and others trying to persuade him to relax.

Original ‘90210’ stars get cameras flashing

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The reunion of Tori Spelling’s Donna and Jennie Garth’s Kelly on the CW’s “90210” is an attention-grabber for fans of the original drama.

Put the actresses in a Rolls-Royce convertible to film a scene in the heart of Beverly Hills and the paparazzi are thrilled as well.

A dozen or more photographers gathered Monday to grab shots of the pair, who starred in the 1990s Fox hit “Beverly Hills 90210.” Spelling is joining the CW sequel, which features Garth, for a multi-episode arc that begins airing April 14.

It was the first time the CW show lived up to the 90210 zip code by filming in Beverly Hills.

Spelling is used to being a paparazzi magnet. She shrugged off the attention and called it “just another day out.”

Today’s birthdays

Actor Conrad Bain (“Diff’rent Strokes”) is 86. Actor Gary Conway (“Burke’s Law”) is 73. Drummer John Steel of The Animals is 68. Singer Florence LaRue of the Fifth Dimension is 65. Singer Alice Cooper is 61. Actor Michael Beck is 60. Actress Lisa Eichhorn is 57. Singer Tim Booth of James is 49. Country singer Clint Black is 47. Country bassist Dave Buchanan of Yankee Grey is 43. “Daily Show” correspondent Rob Corddry is 38. Bassist Rick Burch of Jimmy Eat World is 34.