POP/ROCKIcy Reception: As a singer, Tonya Harding...

POP/ROCK

Icy Reception: As a singer, Tonya Harding is a terrific figure skater. Loud boos nearly drowned out her voice as her band, the Golden Blades, opened Sunday in Portland, Ore., for Kool and the Gang at the Last Chance Summer Dance, a fund-raising event for muscular dystrophy. “She wanted to sing a song for you people because she does love Portland,” said her manager, who leaped to the stage to admonish the crowd. “And instead of booing, I think you should be cheering this young lady.” Throughout her three-song, 15-minute set, the booing crowd turned thumbs down and lobbed plastic bottles at the stage. Harding dodged a few and kept singing as she picked one up and waved it in the air. Said one spectator: “They need to take her off the stage because she’s embarrassing.” Harding was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to perform community service last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to hinder the prosecution in the January, 1994, attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan.

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Songs for Bosnia: Former Beatle Paul McCartney joined Britain’s top groups Monday to sing for Bosnia and raise money for young war victims. Bands that included Blur, Suede and Oasis took to studios around the country to record songs for a charity album to aid children whose lives have been blighted by the conflict. “It will just prove to the people of Bosnia that we care,” said McCartney, who stepped in to record a new version of the Beatles’ “Come Together” with Paul Weller and Oasis’ Noel Gallagher.

MOVIES

Antonioni’s Return: Silenced by a stroke, director Michelangelo Antonioni still had much to contribute to the Venice Film Festival. Extra showings of his comeback film, “Beyond the Clouds,” were added because of huge demand for seats. It received a standing ovation at each showing Sunday. Wim Wenders co-directed with the 83-year-old Antonioni, who lost his voice in a stroke 10 years ago. The film, based on short stories written by Antonioni in 1983, has an international cast including John Malkovich, Fanny Ardent and Sophie Marceau, and musical interludes featuring the rock group U2. How can a man who is unable to speak direct a film? The Italian director’s wife shot an on-set documentary showing Antonioni using gestures or notes to pass along his instructions. His last film was “Two Telegrams” in 1981.

TELEVISION

Audience Loves J.F.K. Jr.: If the studio audience response is any indication, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s appearance on “Murphy Brown” should be a hit. “I haven’t heard so many women screaming since the Beatles,” said the show’s star, Candice Bergen. “I had to wait quite a while to deliver my line.” Kennedy said in a statement that he agreed to appear in the Sept. 18 premiere of the CBS sitcom to promote his new political magazine, George.

STAGE

Early Closure for ‘Blue’: “Burning Blue,” a critically acclaimed play about a homosexual witch hunt in the U.S. Navy, will close early, producer Robert Fox said Sunday. Within a week of its opening in London’s West End in July, Fox clinched a Hollywood film deal, with stars such as Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt being considered for the main roles. But Fox, faced with losses of $563,200, has been forced to close the play in the next five weeks, blaming a summer heat wave, the play’s subject matter and scenes of male frontal nudity. Playwright David Geer’s drama tells a tale of sexual prejudice in an aggressively macho world.

DANCE

American Wins Top Prize: American dancer Mark Morris has won the 1995 Hamada Award, set up as the top prize for artistic excellence at the Edinburgh Festival.

PEOPLE WATCH

Singer’s Brother Charged: The brother of singer Boy George appeared in court Monday on a charge of murdering his wife. Gerald O’Dowd, 31, did not enter a plea during the brief hearing in Hemel Hempstead, 20 miles northwest of London. O’Dowd was arrested Sunday at his home in Tring, 35 miles northwest of London, where police found his 32-year-old wife, Jill, with a single stab wound in the chest. She died later in the day. Police released no details about the stabbing. In a statement released Sunday, Boy George said the family reacted with “absolute disbelief.”

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Sheen Weds Model: No more spending tens of thousands of dollars for companionship. Charlie Sheen’s a married man. The 30-year-old actor, who recently testified in the trial of Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss that he ordered the services of Fleiss’ call girls at least 27 times and ran up a tab of more than $50,000, was married Sunday in Malibu to model Donna Peele, 25, after a six-week courtship. They met while filming a commercial in New York City.