BEST BETS Saturday 10/7

ANAHEIM

8:30pm

World Music

Iranian singing sensation Googoosh was such a big hit at her back-from-retirement performance in August at the Great Western Forum that she returns to the Southland this week to play the Pond and then again Oct. 21 at Staples Center in L.A. Considered the Elvis of Iranian music for her hit records blending Persian poetry with Western pop rhythms, Googoosh nonetheless heeded the 1979 Islamic fundamentalist ban on female performers and retired. As restrictions have loosened under president Mohammed Khatami, the government approved a passport allowing the 49-year-old singer to undertake this international tour.

* Googoosh, Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 8:30 p.m. $25 to $250. (714) 704-2500.

ORANGE

10am

Opera

Many famous singers got their start in competitions such as the Orange County District Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Here’s your chance to catch budding local stars as they test themselves against one another and legends of the past. And it won’t cost you a cent. After clearing this hurdle, the winners will compete at USC on Nov. 3 and 4. Their ultimate goal: the Met, La Scala, Paris Opera. Who’s to say they won’t make it?

* Orange County District Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Memorial Hall, Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. 10 a.m. Free. (949) 650-0759.