MORNING REPORT - News from Dec. 13, 2000

Final Thoughts: KCRW-FM (89.9) will pay tribute to the late Steve Allen on today’s “Politics of Culture,” with programming that will include portions of an interview Allen gave on the last day of his life. As part of a radio feature about satirist Paul Krassner, KCRW’s Jon Kalish met with Allen, a longtime friend of Krassner’s, just hours before Allen’s death on Oct. 30. Today’s program, airing at 2:30 p.m., will include extended excerpts from that conversation, in which Allen is said to “vent about his personal views on morality, humor and the state of comedy today.”

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Election Ripples: CNN is making two of its experimental post-election programs permanent. Beginning Monday, newscast “Wolf Blitzer Reports” moves into the 5 p.m. slot, followed by a show anchored by legal analyst Greta Van Susteren at 5:30 p.m. The programs, meant to give CNN a way to react more quickly to news, replace a three-anchor newscast called “The World Today.” The cable network is also looking at changes in the 7 p.m. hour, where analyst Jeff Greenfield has been anchoring a show about election developments. According to an internal memo, network executives hope to find a regular spot for Greenfield, whose analysis has been praised by many critics in recent weeks. Executives are also planning to make “The Spin Room,” a political talk show that has been airing at 8 p.m., a permanent fixture, but no time slot has been set.

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Artists’ Protection: The International Federation of Actors--representing guilds of actors, singers and dancers in 70 countries--called Tuesday for an international treaty to protect performers worldwide from having their work or image misused on the Internet or other digital mediums. At a Geneva press conference, Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung, Argentine tango singer Susana Rinaldi and Cameroon singer Joe Mboule backed a proposal to the U.N.’s World Intellectual Property Organization that would protect performers’ economic and “moral” rights not to have their images hijacked for advertising, pornographic or other purposes.

THE ARTS

Education, Sinatra-Style: Tony Bennett marked what would have been his late pal Frank Sinatra’s 85th birthday on Tuesday by announcing plans for the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts--a high school in New York’s Queens borough that will combine academic course work with intensive study in music, the fine arts, drama and dance. The school, to be supported through donations from the Friars Club and others, is slated to open in a temporary site in September with an initial enrollment of 250 eighth- and ninth-graders. Plans call for construction of a permanent site that would accommodate 1,000 ninth-through-12th-grade students, with selection to be based on competitive auditions and academic reviews.

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Remembering Fonteyn: In what the auction house called “a triumph to the memory of Dame Margot Fonteyn,” a London Christie’s sale of tutus and other belongings of the late British ballerina garnered a stunning $953,400 Tuesday. Top lots included a tutu the Royal Ballet star wore in “Swan Lake” ($93,000) and two Yves Saint Laurent evening gowns ($133,000 and $105,000).

KUDOS

Lifetime Grammys: The recording academy will give Lifetime Achievement Awards to the Beach Boys, the Who, Tony Bennett, the late Sammy Davis Jr. and the late Bob Marley in conjunction with the 43rd annual Grammy Awards in February. In addition, producers Arif Mardin and Phil Ramone will receive Trustees Awards. Recording academy President Michael Green called the honorees “among the most important architects and builders of many of the most distinctive and seminal recordings of this century.”

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And Then There Were Four: Aerosmith will become the first rock group--and only the fourth recipient ever--to receive the American Music Awards’ special Award of Achievement for “rare and distinguished accomplishments” during the show’s Jan. 8 telecast on ABC. Aerosmith is being honored for “having recorded over 30 albums and compilations, as well as their trailblazing videos and mammoth concert tours.” The previous recipients are Michael Jackson, Prince and Mariah Carey.

QUICK TAKES

In a role originally developed for Bette Midler, Courtney Love will play the late Texas Guinan in “Hello Suckers,” playwright David Henry Hwang’s screenplay about the showgirl who became a Broadway star and nightclub queen. Martin Scorsese is executive-producing. . . . Reflecting the genre’s proliferation on network schedules, the People’s Choice Awards (Jan. 7 on CBS) has added a new category this year for “favorite reality-based program.” The nominees: “Cops,” “The Real World” and “Survivor.” . . . Influential artist John Baldessari has been named to the board of trustees of L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Baldessari has been an active supporter of the museum since its early days. . . . James DePreist, music director of the Oregon Symphony, will replace Franz Welser-Most as guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in performances Thursday through Saturday in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Welser-Most has withdrawn due to a back injury. . . . Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola and Mexican singer Thalia were wed Dec. 2 at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Mottola was previously married to singer Mariah Carey. . . . Actress Lela Rochon Fuqua (“Waiting to Exhale”) and director Antoine Fuqua (“The Replacement Killers”) are expecting their first child in June.