NEWSMAKERS

March 27, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

NEWSMAKERS

Domingo recovering

LOS ANGELES

Placido Domingo says he is still tender after surgery to remove a cancerous polyp from his colon, but he has returned to work and resumed singing in private — and plans to be back on stage in a couple of weeks.

The 69-year-old Spanish tenor became ill on tour in Tokyo, had surgery early this month at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and has been recuperating in Acapulco, Mexico. He returned to Los Angeles on Thursday and a few hours later was back at work as director of the Los Angeles Opera Company.

The malignancy was localized, so Domingo was able to undergo minimally invasive surgery to remove the polyp.

In ad, Maddow says she’s not a candidate

BOSTON

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has taken out a full-page newspaper ad to declare she’s not running for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

The liberal talk-show host placed the ad in Friday’s edition of The Boston Globe after newly elected Republican Sen. Scott Brown sent out a fundraising appeal alluding to a potential challenge from Maddow.

Maddow says Brown was “using the made-up threat of me running against him to try to scare donors into giving him more money.” She has a home in western Massachusetts.

Prince to pay $2.95M for canceling concert

DUBLIN

A Dublin judge has ordered Prince to pay $2.95 million to Ireland’s major concert promoters for canceling a 2008 concert at the last minute.

High Court Justice Peter Kelly made public the damages total Friday because the singer has yet to pay the amount to Dublin promoters MCD Productions in a confidential settlement reached last month.

Kelly last month ruled that Prince had committed to perform in Dublin’s 82,300-seat Croke Park in June 2008 but withdrew without explanation 10 days beforehand after 55,000 tickets were sold. The 51-year-old Prince did not testify at the hearing.

Cowell to receive award for TV work

NEW YORK

Simon Cowell will receive the 2010 International Emmy Founders Award for his work in television.

The 50-year-old recording executive and TV personality is a judge on Fox network’s “American Idol.” He’s also known for the “Got Talent” and “X Factor” franchises.

International Academy President Bruce Paisner says Cowell “has built an international empire and in so doing has changed the face of television around the world.”

Cowell will receive the award at a New York gala Nov. 22. He said in a statement Thursday that he’s “delighted,” and has been “very lucky to be able to make shows that I love.”