– Lionel Richie, father of size-zero Nicole Richie, says he’s hurt by media chatter about her weight. “I’ll be honest with you, it hurts me more than it hurts her,” he told “Access Hollywood” in an interview that was to air Monday. “I must tell you, I’m the basket case.”
– Bob Geldof canceled two weekend concerts in Italy after too few tickets were sold, Italian media reported. He had been set to perform in Milan on Friday and in Rome on Saturday. But fewer than 50 people turned up in Milan and the show was canceled, La Stampa newspaper reported. The Rome concert was subsequently canceled, La Stampa and others reported.
– Despite recent surgery for pancreatic cancer, Luciano Pavarotti says he’s not planning to stop his career. “I have every intention of returning to singing,” the 70-year-old tenor said in an interview published Monday in the Italian daily La Stampa. Pavarotti was preparing to leave New York earlier this month to resume his farewell tour when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass. He had surgery in a New York hospital, and his remaining 2006 concerts were canceled.
– Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” condemned as blasphemous upon its release in 1989, has topped a poll of videos that “broke the rules,” the BBC reported Monday. The video, in which Madonna danced around burning crosses, came first in a survey of 10,000 MTV viewers, with Madonna’s songs “Ray of Light” and “Vogue” also in the top five. “Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears was No. 2.
– Carol Burnett got a career achievement award from the Television Critics Association. “Does this mean I’ll never get another bad review?” she jokingly said Sunday as she accepted the honor.
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The Personals page was compiled by Cristi Kempf from Tribune news services and staff reports.
