Record Sales Are Expected to Be Low

Sales for several major fall album releases will be well below artists’ and their record companies’ projections, but when SoundScan releases last week’s sales figures Wednesday, the industry will look at them with a different perspective. Like every leisure aspect of American life, pop music was appropriately put on hold after last Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

Highly anticipated albums from Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Babyface, Bob Dylan and P.O.D., among others, hit stores on Tuesday, the day terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and that means the usual rules of chart watching won’t apply.

“It will have an obvious impact, if nothing else because of the mere fact that the majority of the disruption happened in our nation’s most populous city,” said Geoff Mayfield, Billboard magazine charts director.

“If you look up figures for almost any artist, no matter what kind of music they play, New York will be one of their top five markets. Knowing that people in New York have had things on their minds other than buying music and entertainment products, that by itself would have an impact on national numbers. And certainly people have been distracted from coast to coast.”

The breadth of the current crisis makes it unclear when pop music will again find its usual backbeat. “Of all the horrible things you can think of that have happened in the last 10 years--the L.A. riots, the last attempt to bomb the World Trade Center, the big weather disturbances--nothing on this scale has happened,” Mayfield said. “We’re in uncharted territory here. People will come back. But I don’t know how quickly it will happen.”

Is Mariah Carey Ready to Glitter?

Only a few weeks ago, 20th Century Fox postponed the scheduled Aug. 31 release of Mariah Carey’s new film, “Glitter,” after the pop singer entered a hospital suffering from emotional and physical exhaustion. The studio rescheduled the release for Sept. 21.

Then, earlier this month, the troubled singer suffered a relapse and had to postpone a much-hyped interview with Barbara Walters on ABC’s newsmagazine “20/20.” There were reports that Carey had suffered a nervous breakdown and was being treated at a Los Angeles hospital.

So it is ironic, to say the least, that with its star in fragile health, “Glitter” is now the only major studio release opening this Friday.

Last week’s terrorist attack on New York City, the Pentagon and in the skies over Pennsylvania caused other studios to postpone the films they were planning to release on Friday.

Disney’s Touchstone Pictures pulled the Tim Allen comedy “Big Trouble” because it has as a central plot point a nuclear device being carried on a commercial plane.

Warner Bros. then yanked the Arnold Schwarzenegger terrorist-themed film “Collateral Damage,” which had been scheduled to open Oct. 5. As a result, the studio decided to move the Denzel Washington police thriller “Training Day” from Friday to Oct. 5.

Meanwhile, Paramount Classics decided to postpone until November the Ed Burns-Heather Graham romantic comedy “Sidewalks of New York.”

So that leaves “Glitter” as the only movie debuting in wide release this week.

Paul Dergarabedian, who heads the box-office-tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., says Fox is taking a risk but notes that “Glitter” isn’t the type of movie that would offend people.

“It’s the type of movie that appeals to maybe a younger audience who may watch the news, but certainly not to the degree that older audiences do,” he said. “It’s not about terrorism. It’s more a lighthearted movie. I think Fox is banking that there will be an audience for that film even in these dire times. It’s not like ‘Big Trouble’ and ‘Collateral Damage,’ which involve terrorism.”

Carey makes her feature film debut in “Glitter” as a singer who overcomes a turbulent childhood and struggles to find her true family and her true voice. Carey’s album “Glitter” came out last Tuesday, the day of the terrorist attacks.

Pageant Will Go On; Parade Canceled

The Miss America competition will proceed as scheduled Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J., according to a news release posted on the Miss America Organization Web site. But the organization has canceled the competition’s annual Boardwalk Parade, scheduled for Friday.

“Although there have been no specific threats against the parade or the competition, the difficulties in securing the length of the parade line dictates the need for cancellation,” Miss America Organization President Robert M. Renneisen Jr. said in a statement posted at https://info@missamerica.org. “Both the organization and the authorities are confident in the level of security being provided for the contestants and the events scheduled in Boardwalk Hall.”

The 80-year-old pageant, which last year drew about 12.6 million television viewers, announced in August that it would add a segment titled “The Eighth Judge,” in which the 41 eliminated Miss America contestants would have a hand in the final tally, with their ballots added and weighted as one-eighth of the final judges’ decision.

The move is a nod to the popularity of unscripted television programs, such as “Survivor,” which drew nearly 30 million viewers each week.

The pageant will be broadcast on ABC.

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Compiled by Times staff writers