Will the Pope Say a Prayer for His CD Sales?

Glitzy parties and press conferences to hype new albums are a staple in the recording industry, but has there ever been one that can rival Wednesday’s event for a music biz rookie named Karol Wojtyla, better known to the world as Pope John Paul II? He is the featured artist on “Abba Pater,” an album of his prayers and homilies set to original music and scheduled for a March 23 global release. The 78-year-old Holy Father will accept a solid gold copy of the CD on Wednesday during his weekly audience at St. Peter’s Square, and a video of the title track (described by one insider as a “papal ‘Hey Jude’ ”) will debut that morning on NBC’s “Today” show. The 11-song album, from Sony Classical, features a range of musical styles and the pope speaking in five languages. “I was very pleasantly surprised when I first heard it. It’s not just a curiosity,” says Peter Gelb, president of Sony Classical. “It has considerable artistic validity.” How will it sell? Gelb says it should fare well in Europe and Latin America (“One million or more in Brazil is not unreasonable,” he said), but the U.S. sales are more difficult to predict. “I wish I knew,” said Gelb, who will present the gold CD to the pope.

One-Upping Walters’ Celebrity Interviews

Beth Littleford knew she had a future as Barbara Walters’ doppelganger around the time she asked Joey Buttafuoco, “What makes you cry?” Littleford, 30, has been doing memorable segments on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” lampooning the soft-focus sit-downs Walters conducts with celebrities. On Sunday at 7 and 11 p.m., Comedy Central will compile some of them under the banner “The Beth Littleford Interview Special”--counterprogramming the star worship of the Oscar telecast. See Littleford get cozy with Jesse “The Body” Ventura, newly elected governor of Minnesota, schlock-talkmeister Jerry Springer and David Cassidy, the former “Partridge Family” cast member turned Vegas showman. The questions Littleford asks are mock serious, but the intimacy she establishes is oh-so-Barbara. Speaking of which, what did Littleford think of Walters’ two-hour sit-down with Monica Lewinsky? “I was really annoyed by how she plays. . .coy, she plays shocked. Barbara wants to get the good stuff, but then pretends to be so shocked, and admonishes Monica for going there.”

Welsh Soprano, 13, Brings ‘Angel’ CD to U.S.

Move over, Andrea Bocelli. When it comes to classical crossover, a 13-year-old Welsh soprano named Charlotte Church is coming on strong. Her first outing in a multi-CD deal with Sony, “Voice of an Angel,” hit No. 1 on Britain’s classical charts and No. 4 on the pop charts. Now Sony Classical is hoping for a splash on the other side of the ocean. On Tuesday, when “Voice of an Angel” is released in the United States, she’ll make the first of five scheduled TV appearances here, on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.” Two days later, she’ll be on the “Today” show, then Letterman, “Dateline NBC” and “Nickelodeon News.” Expect to see a perky schoolgirl whose biggest ambition, it’s been reported, is “to sing my favorite opera, ‘Madame Butterfly,’ at La Scala in Milan--and get a standing ovation, of course.” Her album, which features an aria or two, sacred music, traditional Welsh songs and such standards as “Danny Boy,” went double platinum in the UK, and Church got invites to sing at Prince Charles’ 50th birthday and for the pope.

--Compiled by Times Staff Writers