NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Ciara to sing anthem before College Football Playoff in Arizona

DALLAS

Grammy Award winner Ciara will sing the national anthem before the College Football Playoff national championship game at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11.

Country singer Canaan Smith will perform “America the Beautiful” before the game. Playoff officials also said Thursday that country singer and songwriter Eric Church will headline the championship tailgate, which takes places outside the stadium before the game.

The concert is free to anyone holding tickets for the game, which will pit the winners of semifinals between Clemson and Oklahoma and Michigan State and Alabama.

Retired Letterman enjoys reaction to beard

NEW YORK

David Letterman seems to be enjoying the reaction to his long, white beard.

Upon his retirement from television last May, the former “Late Show” host took advantage of the opportunity to quit shaving, and the impressively bushy result has been on display in the few public appearances he’s made.

“Everybody hates it,” Letterman conceded in an interview with the Whitefish Review, a literary journal based in Montana, where he has a home.

“My wife hates it,” he said. “My son hates it. But it’s interesting. I’ve kind of developed a real creepy look with it that I’m sort of enjoying. And I can tell that people are off-put by it. And the more people implore me to shave, the stronger my resolve is not to shave.”

Associated Press