Pop star Michael Jackson continues to annoy some Africans with his habit of holding his nose. Upon arriving in Tanzania`s port city of Dar es Salaam Monday, the singer, yes, holding his nose and hiding his face behind a tiny hand bag, zipped from his private jet and dove into a waiting car. He sprinted right past Tanzanian Foreign Minister Ahmed Diriye, who was waiting to welcome him. The chubby Diriye ran after Jackson, on tour to shoot scenes for his new ”Return to Africa” video, and finally managed to make introductions. Though an aide describes Jackson`s nose thing as a ”nervous twitch,” folks in the Ivory Coast, where the star visited for five days, have suggested he couldn`t stand the smell in the land of his ancestors.
RAZZIE CONTENDERS Madly vying for moviedom`s 12th annual Golden Raspberry Awards-whose estimated street value is a whopping $1.79-are Vanilla Ice`s ”Cool as Ice”
with seven nominations; and Bruce Willis` ”Hudson Hawk” and Dan Aykroyd`s
”Nothing But Trouble,” with six nominations each. The Razzie nominations beat the announcement Wednesday of Academy Award contenders. Los Angeles-area writer John Wilson organizes the Razzies annually. ”Ice” was really hot, being nominated for worst picture, worst actor (Ice), worst director (David Kellogg), worst screenplay (David Stenn), two worst new star nominations
(including one for Ice) and worst original song. Actress Sean Young gained an unprecedented double nomination for the same movie, ”Kiss Before Dying.” Her ”pathetically puppet-like portrayal” gained her the nomination for worst actress as the twin who lives, and as worst supporting actress as the twin who`s killed off in the first reel.
SLEEK CAMELS LIVE LONGER Being nominated for Saudi Arabian barbees are a lot of fat camels. The formerly noble ships of the desert are spending a lot of time either working out at the local racetrack or ending up sporting barbecue sauce. ”They got fat, happy and lazy. Some can`t even race anymore,” said camel jockey Breig Mubarak, 25. But enough post-gulf war camels got back into condition to race in the recent three-day annual Janadriya Cultural Festival, organized by the country`s National Guard. Still, jockeys and owners noticed that many camels needed 50 minutes to wind up the 12 1/2-mile races, instead of the ideal 30. The races attract notables from Saudi Arabia`s royal family, which includes about 3,000 princes. And King Fahd was on hand for the season`s first race.
HE`LL BUY AMERICAN Japan`s new ambassador to the U.S., Takakazu Kuriyama, has vowed to curb trade friction between the two nations by buying an American car. ”There are a number of American cars, I`m told, which are just as good as Hondas or Toyotas,” says Kuriyama, 60. ”So when I go to Washington I`ll try an American car.”
